Vision and its Relationship to Novel Behaviour in St. Lawrence River Greenland Sharks, Somniosus microcephalus

Rarely observed Greenland Sharks, Somniosus microcephalus, were recorded at shallow depths by divers employing underwater video in the St. Lawrence River, in association with a seasonal concentration of Capelin (Mallotus villosus) in May-June 2003. We recorded unique proximity-induced display motor patterns in these sharks, which have not been recorded in underwater observations of Arctic Greenland Sharks. Arctic sharks have a high incidence of blindness due to an ocular copepod parasite, Ommatokoita elongata. The absence of parasite-induced blindness in St. Lawrence Greenland Sharks, in contrast to endemic blindness in the Arctic population, may allow sharks in this region to more readily visually recognize the presence of conspecifics and potential prey. Improved visual acuity may therefore allow St. Lawrence River sharks to express a different behavioural repertoire than Arctic sharks, with resulting changes in intra- and inter-specific aggression and predatory behaviour

Paramedic student accuracy at ECG interpretation

It is critical for patients that paramedics are able to correctly interpret and identify ECG rhythms. Management and treatment of several heart related conditions is dependent on the paramedics ability to recognize rhythms.Quantitative analysis study will be undertaken to examine students ECG interpretation abilities

Intrarater and interrater reliability of the anteromedial reach test in healthy participants

Background: The Anteromedial Reach Test is a performance-based outcome measure for evaluating dynamic knee stability in patients with anterior cruciate ligament injury. No previously published study has adequately evaluated intrarater or interrater reliability of the Anteromedial Reach Test, so the purpose of this study was to assess these measurement properties in healthy participants prior to their investigation in patients with anterior cruciate ligament injury.Methods: Two raters (A and B) tested 39 healthy university staff and students (20 men, 19 women). For the intrarater reliability investigation, rater A tested participants on three separate test occasions (days 1, 2, and 3) at the same time of day. For the interrater reliability investigation, raters A and B independently tested participants on the same test occasion (day 3).Results: There was no significant systematic bias between test occasions or raters. Values of the intraclass correlation coefficient (2,1) were 0.96 for intrarater reliability of both the dominant leg and nondominant leg and 0.97 (dominant leg) and 0.98 (nondominant leg) for interrater reliability. Values for the standard error of measurement were 1.46 (dominant leg) and 1.62 (nondominant leg) for the intrarater investigation, and 1.26 (dominant leg) and 1.04 (nondominant leg) for the interrater investigation. At the 90% confidence level, the minimum detectable change was 3.8% and the error in an individual's score at a given point in time was ±2.7%.Conclusion: The Anteromedial Reach Test demonstrated excellent intrarater and interrater reliability in healthy participants. This provides a basis for future investigation of the measurement properties of the Anteromedial Reach Test in patients with anterior cruciate ligament injury

Empathy Levels in Canadian Paramedic Students: A Longitudinal Study

BackgroundEmpathy in healthcare delivery is an essential component to providing high-quality patient care. Empathy in paramedics and paramedic students has been subject to limited study to date. This study aimed to determine the empathy levels demonstrated by first year paramedic students over the course of their first year of study.MethodsThis study employed a longitudinal design of a convenience sample of first year paramedic students in a community college program in Ontario, Canada. The Medical Condition Regard Scale (MCRS) was used to measure empathy levels across four medical conditions: intellectual disability, suicide attempt, substance abuse and mental health emergency. Surveys were conducted three times approximately 2-3 months apart; before first semester field placements (Nov/17), after first semester field placements (Jan/18) and near the end of second semester field placements (Mar/18).ResultsA total of 20 students completed all three surveys. Females, respondents aged 22-24, and participants with previous post-secondary education demonstrated higher mean empathy scores than their counterparts. Substance abuse was associated with the lowest mean empathy score for every demographic. Mean scores for intellectual disability, attempted suicide and mental health emergency decreased from the first survey to the last. Mean scores for substance abuse increased from 43.3 (SD±8.2) to 46.45 (SD±7.04).ConclusionResults from this study suggest that in general, empathy levels among paramedic students decline over the course of their education. Male paramedic students are less empathetic than their female counterparts, and those with previous post-secondary education displayed higher mean empathy scores. The findings in this research support previous findings, and suggest that paramedic education programs may benefit from the inclusion of additional empathy training and education. 

Predictive performance models in the South African Business Process Services industry

Abstract: Orientation: An earlier systematic literature review study (Jacobs & Roodt, 2011) conducted on research in Business Process Services (BPS) industry sector companies identified a number of variables that could be empirically linked to turnover intention and individual performance. The literature pointed to a potential health promotion process, as well as an individual performance process in the BPS environment. Research purpose: The purpose of this study is to test two different predictive models that may explain two distal outcomes, namely turnover intention and individual employee performance, in the South African (SA) BPS industry

“A very orderly retreat”: Democratic transition in East Germany, 1989-90

East Germany's 1989-90 democratisation is among the best known of East European transitions, but does not lend itself to comparative analysis, due to the singular way in which political reform and democratic consolidation were subsumed by Germany's unification process. Yet aspects of East Germany's democratisation have proved amenable to comparative approaches. This article reviews the comparative literature that refers to East Germany, and finds a schism between those who designate East Germany's transition “regime collapse” and others who contend that it exemplifies “transition through extrication”. It inquires into the merits of each position and finds in favour of the latter. Drawing on primary and secondary literature, as well as archival and interview sources, it portrays a communist elite that was, to a large extent, prepared to adapt to changing circumstances and capable of learning from “reference states” such as Poland. Although East Germany was the Soviet state in which the positions of existing elites were most threatened by democratic transition, here too a surprising number succeeded in maintaining their position while filing across the bridge to market society. A concluding section outlines the alchemy through which their bureaucratic power was transmuted into property and influence in the “new Germany”

The timing of strike-slip shear along the Ranong and Khlong Marui faults, Thailand

The timing of shear along many important strike-slip faults in Southeast Asia, such as the Ailao Shan-Red River, Mae Ping and Three Pagodas faults, is poorly understood. We present 40Ar/39Ar, U-Pb SHRIMP and microstructural data from the Ranong and Khlong Marui faults of Thailand to show that they experienced a major period of ductile dextral shear during the middle Eocene (48–40 Ma, centered on 44 Ma) which followed two phases of dextral shear along the Ranong Fault, before the Late Cretaceous (>81 Ma) and between the late Paleocene and early Eocene (59–49 Ma). Many of the sheared rocks were part of a pre-kinematic crystalline basement complex, which partially melted and was intruded by Late Cretaceous (81–71 Ma) and early Eocene (48 Ma) tin-bearing granites. Middle Eocene dextral shear at temperatures of ~300–500°C formed extensive mylonite belts through these rocks and was synchronous with granitoid vein emplacement. Dextral shear along the Ranong and Khlong Marui faults occurred at the same time as sinistral shear along the Mae Ping and Three Pagodas faults of northern Thailand, a result of India-Burma coupling in advance of India-Asia collision. In the late Eocene (<37 Ma) the Ranong and Khlong Marui faults were reactivated as curved sinistral branches of the Mae Ping and Three Pagodas faults, which were accommodating lateral extrusion during India-Asia collision and Himalayan orogenesis

2018 Research & Innovation Day Program

A one day showcase of applied research, social innovation, scholarship projects and activities.https://first.fanshawec.ca/cri_cripublications/1005/thumbnail.jp