Seeding change : examining mobilizing social finance for rural development

1 online resource (143 pages) : chartsIncludes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 133-143).This thesis explores how seed funding within the social finance ecosystem can catalyze sustainable development in rural communities. Through a qualitative inquiry, this research investigates how capital flows are shaped by governance structures, financialization, and power dynamics. Drawing on interviews, surveys, and a World Café discussion, the findings reveal that intermediaries, adaptive leadership, and regulatory frameworks play crucial roles in enabling or constraining rural innovation

Effective evaluation or ineffective assent? how SDG stamping undermines effective evaluation of environmental CSR efforts and board diversity in the mining industry

1 online resource (74 pages)Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 68-74).The Canadian mining industry plays a critical role in the national economy, contributing significantly to GDP, exports, and employment, while also posing considerable environmental challenges. This thesis examines whether observable board diversity in Canadian mining organizations influence their environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR) efforts aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Using mixed method content analyses, this study analyzes sustainability reports from partners of the Mining Association of Canada. Findings show no significant relationship between board diversity and SDG advancement. Organizations often applied SDG acknowledgments retroactively rather than using them as guiding principles. ECSR strategies were primarily shaped by local project needs and stakeholder concerns, not by global sustainability frameworks.This research contributes to discussions on governance and sustainability in high environmental risk industries. It highlights the need for further investigation into additional board characteristics and how organizations can better align regional and global priorities

“Straight Outta’ North Preston” : media representations of gang involvement in interprovincial human trafficking

1 online resource (55 pages) : graphsIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 49-55).This research explores the dynamics between race, media perceptions and gang involvement in Nova Scotia. By employing Critical Race Theory (CRT), this research analyzes how systemic racism, and historical contexts influence the portrayal of North Preston’s Finest, a predominately Black street gang, in contrast to Hells Angels, a predominately white outlaw motorcycle gang. This research looks how human trafficking is framed in the media by conducting a comparative analysis of news articles. The finding suggests that North Preston’s Finest are depicted using language such as “pimps” and “hustlers” emphasizes their individual criminality. Hells Angels is portrayed as an organized crime entity which allows for a more nuanced understanding of their criminal activities. The historical landscape of the community of North Preston has shifted from a haven from escaping slavery to a community involved with human trafficking and criminality. This transformation hinges on the framework of Stuart Halls Policing the Crisis on how Black people are shaped as criminals through the media and how that shapes public perceptions and policies. Overall, this research stresses the importance of examining media narratives through a CRT lens

Examining the soft excess in a sample of active galactic nuclei

1 online resource (vi, 39 pages) : illustrations, charts, graphsIncludes abstract and appendix.Includes bibliographical references (pages 38-39).In active galactic nuclei (AGN), the soft excess refers to the emission below 2 keV where the flux exceeds the extrapolated high energy continuum. The phenomenon was first observed in the 1980s and there is currently no definitive explanation of its origin. One possible model is blurred reflection, which connects the soft excess to the high energy continuum by combining the contributions of primary X-ray emission with emission reflected off the accretion disk. A second model is a warm corona or warm Comptonization. This deals with two different X-ray sources, the original hot corona is now joined by a so-called warm corona at lower temperatures which is more optically thick and produces a steeper spectrum below 2 keV. In this analysis, both the blurred reflection and warm corona models as well as a combined model are applied to a sample of 64 AGN, including both broad line Seyfert 1s (BLS1s) and narrow line Seyfert 1s (NLS1s), that were observed between 0.6 - 40 keV with Suzaku. The best model for each source is determined using the corrected Akaike Information Criterion (AICc). We find that both populations are best fit with the combined model, while blurred reflection alone produces the worst fit statistics of the three models. We calculate the luminosity ratios for the warm corona and blurred reflection contributions to the soft excess, finding that both populations require significant contributions from both components, while the NLS1s exhibit slightly higher warm corona strengths. We also find correlations between low and high energies in the NLS1s and not in the BLS1s which may indicate that the NLS1s present a more cohesive population or that the two groups host different geometries in their central regions

Critical discourse analysis of medtech

1 online resource (163 pages) : colour illustrations, charts, graphsIncludes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 135-159).In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has become pervasive across the globe, with companies and other AI proponents suggesting these systems as solutions to diverse societal issues. This is particularly true within medicine, one of the fastest growing domains for the development of AI-based solutions to social concerns. Despite the purported benefits of these technologies, a growing body of research recommends caution be taken in implementing AI solutions. This thesis uses an interdisciplinary approach involving medical critical appraisal and feminist critical discourse analysis to build upon the growing body of works that contribute to AI criticism. The AI system GI Genius is used as a case study to examine the implications of further investment in AI by the Canadian healthcare system, to explore the discourses within clinical research surrounding the use of AI, and to offer insight into the ways that healthcare professionals are influenced by these discourses

A continental ichnological study across Romer’s Gap (Mississippian Period) in Southern New Brunswick: implications for the colonization of Lacustrine and Alluvial continental environments

Vertebrate fossils from continental environments are rare in the Misssippian Period. This includes the interval spanning the Tournaisian and Visean stages historically known as ‘Romer’s Gap’, where the few known sites represent paleoenvironments close to open water rather than inland continental conditions. This thesis uses ichnofossils from the Mississippian-aged strata of southern New Brunswick, Canada as a proxy for biodiversity. Examination of the Horton, Sussex, and Mabou groups in the Martimes Basin has yielded diverse footprint ichnoassemblages representing the earliest-known Carboniferous tetrapods. Additionally, the latest Visean to Serpukhovian Mabou Group has yielded the oldest-known tetrapod burrows. The sedimentological record suggests the tetrapods responsible for trackways lived within forested wetlands on the margins of freshwater lakes and alluvial plains, thus representing the earliest colonization of continental paleoenvironments by tetrapods. Tetrapod burrowing represents the earliest known behavioral response of the group to climate change. Trace fossils demonstrate that diverse tetrapods were already adapted for continental ecosystems earlier in the Mississippian than previously recorded, representing the oldest known evidence for temnospondyls, anthracosaurs, and recumbirostran ‘microsaur’ lineages. Relic Devonian-grade polydactyl tetrapods similar to whatcheerids remained within the alluvial Kennebecasis Formation. The dryland, strongly seasonal alluvial settings of the Stilesville and Enrage formations preserve sparse tetrapod ichnofossils interpreted to have been made by anthracosaurs and recumbirostran microsaurs that were likely better-adapted to continental conditions. This study tests and mostly agrees with recently-established ichnobiochronological models for the Mississippian Period, with evidence of Valentian ichnobiochronological elements extending into the Mississippian Bluebeachian ichnobiochron, suggesting an overlap between them. The present research extends the known chronological distribution of several ichnogenera (Hylopus, Batrachichnus, Limnopus) earlier into the Tournaisian. This study also informally recognizes new tetrapod ichnofossil morphotypes that will be published as new ichnotaxa, including new trackways (‘Brachydactylopus’ and a new polydactyl trackway) and burrows (Reniformichnus ‘stringeri’ and Katarrhedrites ‘peekabooensis’)

2025-11-04 Senate Minutes and Agendas

Minutes and Agenda for the April 11, 2025 meeting of Saint Mary’s University Senate

Carbene reactivity with uncommon p-block molecules

1 online resource (xxxiv, 445 pages) : illustrations (some colour), charts (some colour), graphs (some colour)Includes abstract and appendix.Includes bibliographical references (pages 16-20, 54-58, 79-83, 110-116, 140-145, 167-170).The p-block (main group) elements are those in groups 13-17 and this thesis involves reactivity of uncommon small molecules derived from p-block elements with carbenes, a highly reactive carbon-based functional group featuring low-oxidation state carbon. The recent historical isolation of carbenes and the discovery of their endlessly tunable chemical diversity has allowed for the subsequent isolation of many never-before-seen states of most elements. The behaviour of vastly different carbenes when reacted with common small molecules more has been widely explored. In this dissertation, an introduction to general chemistry and more specifically carbenes is included in chapter 1. Research into the use of a triazene derived from reacting a carbene and azide for the preparation of copper, silver, and gold metal complexes (and gold nanoparticles) is featured in chapter 2. Formation of a tellurourea by reacting a carbene with tellurium metal was then explored; subsequently reacting it with (PCF3)4 and S8 to form distinct nano-/micro-particles of tellurium with morphology control apparent through various solid substrates under a variety of controlled conditions in chapter 3. Reactivity of a carbene and carbon suboxide for the first time is featured in chapter 4. A wide scope of carbenes were then reacted with tetrasulfur tetranitride and thoroughly explored in chapter 5. Formation of germanium and tin dichloride carbene adducts is then studied with respect to preparing low-oxidation state allotropic group 14 metals in chapter 6, along with isolation of their trichloride salts. Finally, chapter 7 highlights how each of these works could be built upon, expanded, or further studied in order to probe the wide range of potential uses and applications each topic touches on. Supporting information for each is provided in the appendix at the end

Who cares : a phenomenological study of the spiritual needs of male caregivers of female partners experiencing dementia

1 online resource (30 pages)Includes abstract and appendix.Includes bibliographical references (pages 29-30).The church has been an important part of the spiritual lives of many people over their lifetime. As people age, infirmity often limits participation in worship and other church related activities1. This phenomenological study examines the spiritual needs of male caregivers of spouses/partners experiencing dementia (PED). One of the defining features of aging is multiple and cumulative losses: identity, memories, reasoning, meaning, relationships, and physical functioning.2 Male caregivers experience the burden of caring in unique ways. It is a lonely, exhausting, unrelenting and thankless time. They are ill-equipped to cope and have few supports. Data reveals, that while caregivers experience all the feelings mentioned above, they also have a deep faith that sustains them, even while feeling abandoned by the church. They exhibit a deep caring and love for their partners as they try to do the best they can in their experience of grief and loss. They were unable to suggest ways the church could address this issue, except to not forget them too. This study sheds light on a group of people with deep spiritual needs, who become lost to the church as their infirmity progresses. As congregations age, and more people experience dementia, the church is encouraged to develop new ways of being a worshiping community, and of meeting the unique needs of PED. It is also an accessibility and a pastoral care issue.</p

What's on the menu, I'm hungry! a comparative analysis of targeted prey types species of Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans, and their dietary breadths

1 online resource (iii, 70 pages)Includes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 59-63).Neanderthals and Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH) exhibited distinct prey selection that reflect their ecological adaptations and resource exploitation. This research examines the dietary breadth of these hominins by analyzing faunal assemblages from 44 archaeological sites across Western Europe. Using zooarchaeological and taphonomy data, prey selection patterns were compared between Neanderthal, AMH, and mixed occupation sites with a focus on coastal versus inland environments. Statistical analyses, including Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests, were conducted to assess significant differences in prey species selection, trophic level consumption, and prey body size. Results indicate that Neanderthals had a more specialized diet, primarily targeting terrestrial mammals, whereas AMH displayed a broader dietary range, including increased exploitation of marine resources at coastal sites. While Neanderthal prey selection varied significantly between coastal and inland environments, AMH dietary strategies remained relatively stable across different landscapes. Additionally, Neanderthals preferentially targeted larger-bodied prey, whereas AMH focused on herbivorous species but showed no strong preference for prey size. This research provides critical insights into the ecological adaptations of Neanderthals and AMH, emphasizing the significance of environmental context in hominin foraging strategies. The findings contribute to ongoing debates regarding the flexibility and resilience of early human populations in response to changing landscapes and resource availability