ROCK OUTCROPS IN THE CANADIAN SHIELD: AN INVESTIGATION OF CONTAMINANT TRANSPORT FROM SURFACE SOURCES IN FRACTURED ROCK AQUIFERS

Flow, recharge and transport dynamics in fractured rock aquifers with low lying rock outcrops is a largely unexplored area of study in hydrogeology. The purpose of this thesis is to examine these topics in an agricultural area in Eastern Ontario. The study consists of a regional scale groundwater quality study, an infiltration experiment that considers bacteria transport from the ground surface to a well, and a numerical modelling study that tests the parameters that affect surface infiltration of a tracer from a rock outcrop to a deeper horizontal fracture. In the water quality study, approximately 65% of the samples contained total coliform, 16% contained E. coli, and 1% contained nitrate-N at greater than 5 mg/L. Occurrence of E. coli increased when considering seasonality, where wells were drilled on rock outcrops, and for shallow well intervals. Nitrate-N did not occur above the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality (Health Canada, 2012) of 10 mg/L. Rapid arrival times were observed in the infiltration study for both the microspheres (30 minutes) and a dye tracer (45 minutes) in a well approximately 6.0 m in horizontal and 2.8 m in vertical distance from the tracer source. Transport velocities were approximately 38.9 m/day for the dye tracer and 115.2 m/day for the colloidal tracer. Results of the model runs indicate that overburden can provide an effective protective layer to transport in fractures, that high groundwater velocities occur in larger fracture apertures and higher gradients dilute tracer concentrations, and that lower groundwater velocities occur with smaller fracture apertures and lower gradients result in elevated tracer concentrations. Lower rainfall rates, larger fracture apertures, early tracer time, larger gradients, and lower water levels maintained unsaturated conditions for longer time periods such that tracer transport was delayed until saturated conditions were attained. The overall heterogeneity of this aquifer environment creates a source water protection conundrum where the water quality is generally good, while transport can occur very quickly in proximity to rock outcrops and in areas with limited overburden.

Plus ça change...Le renouvellement de la tradition chez Régine Robin, Dany Laferrière et Ying Chen

Cette thèse analyse la manifestation de la tradition dans certains textes des écrivains migrants au Québec, nommément La Québécoite et L’Immense fatigue des pierres de Régine Robin, Comment faire l’amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer, Cette grenade dans la main du jeune nègre est-elle une arme ou un fruit ?, Pays sans chapeau et L’Énigme du retour de Dany Laferrière et, enfin L’Ingratitude et Immobile de Ying Chen. Les références à des récits, à des croyances et à des pratiques collectives qui se trouvent dans ces textes signalent une transformation de la transmission de l’héritage culturel d’une génération à l’autre. Afin de parvenir à une meilleure compréhension des liens entre la mémoire collective et la communauté culturelle se définissant dans le présent, je me sers du travail de folkloristes comme Alan Dundes, Simon Bronner et Richard Handler de même que des théories sur la faculté de la tradition proposées par Paul Ricœur, Walter Benjamin et Pierre Nora. Dans la première partie de la thèse, j’étudie l’imaginaire populaire du XIXe siècle et son incorporation dans la littérature canadienne-française de l’époque. Ensuite, j’analyse la remise en question de la tradition – de même que le rôle sous-jacent qu’elle continue de jouer, lors de la Révolution tranquille. Par rapport à ces deux périodes précédentes, l’usage du folklore chez les auteurs migrants laisse présager une nouvelle opération de la tradition dans un contexte où plusieurs groupes culturels se rencontrent. Dans un contexte pluraliste, l’idée de la communauté culturelle est fabriquée en fonction de notre appartenance à plusieurs groupes. Je m’intéresse à comment les gens qui habitent ensemble formulent des liens au passé même dans une situation dans laquelle ils ne partagent pas les mêmes rapports à la mémoire collective. Explorant le renouvellement, qui peut sembler paradoxal, de la tradition, je forme l’hypothèse qu’il est possible pour un groupe de se définir en fonction de valeurs culturelles puisées dans un passé collectif qui s’adaptent constamment à la réalité actuelle.

L'évolution des voix/voies de femmes dans leurs écrits sur l'Église aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles

Feminist movements have allowed many female authors to become decisive and influential figures in literary history by studying their experiences, voices and forms of resistance. This thesis, however, focuses specifically on religious women, those seeking divine comfort outside the confines of institutional laws, or those who, out of protest, are caught in the middle. Founded on historical and feminist perspectives, this study examines the heterodox resistance of six French women living within or outside of Church boundaries during the 17th and 18th centuries: two eras that are particularly significant for women’s progress and modernity. This work strives to demonstrate how these women, doubly subjected to Church discourse and that of society, managed to live out their vocation (female and Christian) and make social, cultural and religious statements that contributed to changing the place of women in society. It aims to grasp the similarities and differences between the actions and ideas of women belonging to both the religious and secular spheres. Regardless of the century, the space and their background, women resist to masculine, patriarchal, ecclesial, political and social mediation and institutions. In locating examples of how they oppose the practices, rules and constraints that are imposed upon them, as well as of their exclusion from the socio-political space, this thesis also seeks to identify epistemological changes that mark the transition from the 17th to the 18th century. This thesis firstly outlines the necessary feminist theory upon which the project is based before identifying the evolution of women’s positions within the socio-ideological and political framework in which they lived. The questions of confession and spiritual direction are of particular interest since they serve as prime examples of masculine mediation and its issues and consequences – most notably the control of the female body and mind. The illustration of bodily metamorphoses bear testament to ideological changes, cultural awareness and female subjectivity, just as the scriptural inscriptions of unorthodox ideas and writing. The female body, both object and subject of the quest for individual and collective liberties, attests, in this way, to the movement towards Enlightenment values of freedom and justice.

Remote Sensing of Vegetation Change Across a Latitudinal Gradient in the Canadian Arctic

Global air surface temperatures and precipitation have increased over the last several decades resulting in a trend of greening across the Circumpolar Arctic. The spatial variability of warming and the inherent effects on plant communities has not proven to be uniform or homogeneous on global or local scales. We can apply remote sensing vegetation indices such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to map and monitor vegetation change (e.g., phenology, greening, percent cover, and biomass) over time. It is important to document how Arctic vegetation is changing, as it will have large implications related to global carbon and surface energy budgets. The research reported here examined vegetation greening across different spatial and temporal scales at two disparate Arctic sites: Apex River Watershed (ARW), Baffin Island, and Cape Bounty Arctic Watershed Observatory (CBAWO), Melville Island, NU. To characterize the vegetation in the ARW, high spatial resolution WorldView-2 data were processed to create a supervised land-cover classification and model percent vegetation cover (PVC) (a similar process had been completed in a previous study for the CBAWO). Meanwhile, NDVI data spanning the past 30 years were derived from intermediate resolution Landsat data at the two Arctic sites. The land-cover classifications at both sites were used to examine the Landsat NDVI time series by vegetation class. Climate variables (i.e., temperature, precipitation and growing season length (GSL) were examined to explore the potential relationships of NDVI to climate warming. PVC was successfully modeled using high resolution data in the ARW. PVC and plant communities appear to reside along a moisture and altitudinal gradient. The NDVI time series demonstrated an overall significant increase in greening at the CBAWO (High Arctic site), specifically in the dry and mesic vegetation type. However, similar overall greening was not observed for the ARW (Low Arctic site). The overall increase in NDVI at the CBAWO was attributed to a significant increase in July temperatures, precipitation and GSL.

Malséance : la mort et l'image dans le (méta)théâtre de Samuel Beckett et de Jean Genet

Both ludic and macabre, the theatrical works of Samuel Beckett and Jean Genet are a paradox to behold. Indeed, as this thesis seeks to illustrate, despite their vastly differing aesthetics, at the core of each playwright’s stage productions is a tension between the characters’ yearning for silence and invisibility, and the continual creation of an often humorous, chaotic, exaggerated or theatrical image that depicts this very longing. Seeking an impossible intersection between their image and their death, they are trapped in a double bind that guarantees aesthetic failure. In order to grasp the close, yet delicate, relationship between the image of death and the death of the image, as presented in the plays of Beckett and Genet, we will explore how the characters’ creative processes deflate the very images — both visual and auditory — that they create. More specifically, we will examine how mimesis both liberates and confines the characters; while the symbolic realm provides the only means of self-representation, it is also a source of profound alienation and powerlessness, for it never adequately conveys meaning. Thus, body, gesture, language and voice are each the site of simultaneous and ceaseless reappearance and disappearance, for which death remains the only (aporetic) cure. Struggling against theatrical form, which demands the actors’ and the audience’s physical presence, both playwrights make shrewd use of metatheatre to slowly empty the stage and thereby suggest the impending, yet impossible, erasure of their characters.

IMPACTS OF ENHANCED TEMPERATURE AND SNOW DEPOSITION ON SENESCENCE DATE, VEGETATION COVER, AND CO2 EXCHANGE IN A CANADIAN HIGH ARCTIC MESIC ECOSYSTEM

Arctic regions are expected to experience an increase in both temperature and precipitation over the coming decades, which is likely to impact vegetation dynamics and greenhouse gas exchange. To test this response, an experiment was installed at the Cape Bounty Arctic Watershed Observatory, on Melville Island, NU, in 2008 as part of the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX). Snow fences and open top chambers (OTCs) were used to manipulate snow depth and air temperature, respectively. Unlike most ITEX sites to date, enhanced temperature and snowfall were combined here in a factorial design with eight replicates. As an added control, four plots were established well outside the enhanced snow area. Senescence date was recorded at the end of the season, and at the peak of the growing season a vegetation survey was conducted within each plot in order to determine the total percent cover of each plot, as well as the percent cover of individual species. Carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange was also measured within each plot throughout the growing season. The date of senescence occurred significantly earlier in plots which had not been manipulated in any way, compared to all other treatments for all species. Salix arctica showed the greatest increase in cover over time at the species level. Lichen cover increased significantly in the deepened snow plots, and in general there were significant increases in percent cover in some functional groups over time. During June and into July the net CO2 flux was to the atmosphere. It was not until July 27 that these ecosystems became net carbon sinks. However, warming alone resulted in the ecosystem acting as a significant net carbon sink for the entire growing season. Plots exposed to warming alone were estimated to have removed approximately 19.94 g C m-2 from the atmosphere, whereas all other treatments were very similar to one another and estimated to have added approximately 3.12 g C m-2 to the atmosphere. Active layer depth and soil temperatures suggest that plots within the ambient snow zone may be receiving some additional snow due to their proximity to the fences. CO2 fluxes measured within the outer control plots suggest that the effect of warming alone could lead to this ecosystem being an even stronger net C sink under truly ambient snow conditions.

The Impact of Community Social Capital on the occurrence of Injuries in adolescents and falls in older adults: Population-based Studies Conducted in Canadian samples

The objectives of this thesis were to study specific Canadian populations in order to examine; (1) relationships between the neighbourhood-level social capital and injuries in youth, as well as (2) falls in older adults, and; (3) to address methodological issues relevant to the study of such relationships. The thesis is comprised of four manuscripts. The first addresses methodological issues surrounding the validation of neighbourhood-level variables for the study of adolescent health, and demonstrates the existence of structural confounding in the study of related etiological relationships. Informed by the latter, the second manuscript examines the association between neighbourhood-level social capital and injuries in youth, and demonstrates that lower levels of social capital are protective factors for girls but not for boys. Manuscript 3 uses an international database focused on older adults, and shows that our existing measure of social capital is valid at neighbourhood levels, but also that there is a high possibility for the existence of structural confounding among Canadian older adults. The fourth manuscript then examines the association between neighbourhood-level social capital and the occurrence of falls in older adults and determines that differences between neighbourhoods are important factors in the occurrence of falls, and that higher levels of social capital are a risk factor for falls. Taken together, results from this thesis provide a better understanding of the role of neighbourhood-level social capital on the occurrence of injuries in Canadian youth and on the occurrence of falls in older adults. Our contributions were important both methodologically and etiologically.

Landscape Patterns of Permafrost Disturbance and Degradation in the Canadian High Arctic

Intensification of permafrost disturbances such as active layer detachments (ALDs) and retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS) have been observed across the circumpolar Arctic. These features are indicators of unstable conditions stemming from recent climate warming and permafrost degradation. In order to understand the processes interacting to give rise to these features, a multidisciplinary approach is required; i.e., interactions between geomorphology, hydrology, vegetation and ground thermal conditions. The goal of this research is to detect and map permafrost disturbance, predict landscape controls over disturbance and determine approaches for monitoring disturbance, all with the goal of contributing to the mitigation of permafrost hazards. Permafrost disturbance inventories were created by applying semi-automatic change detection techniques to IKONOS satellite imagery collected at the Cape Bounty Arctic Watershed Observatory (CBAWO). These methods provide a means to estimate the spatial distribution of permafrost disturbances for a given area for use as an input in susceptibility modelling. Permafrost disturbance susceptibility models were then developed using generalized additive and generalized linear models (GAM, GLM) fitted to disturbed and undisturbed locations and relevant GIS-derived predictor variables (slope, potential solar radiation, elevation). These models successfully delineated areas across the landscape that were susceptible to disturbances locally and regionally when transferred to an independent validation location. Permafrost disturbance susceptibility models are a first-order assessment of landscape susceptibility and are promising for designing land management strategies for remote permafrost regions. Additionally, geomorphic patterns associated with higher susceptibility provide important knowledge about processes associated with the initiation of disturbances. Permafrost degradation was analyzed at the CBAWO using differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (DInSAR). Active-layer dynamics were interpreted using inter-seasonal and intra-seasonal displacement measurements and highlight the importance of hydroclimatic factors on active layer change. Collectively, these research approaches contribute to permafrost monitoring and the assessment of landscape-scale vulnerability in order to develop permafrost disturbance mitigation strategies.

CLASHES IN CONFINEMENT: MEN’S GENDERED EXPERIENCES WITH CONFLICT IN CANADIAN PRISONS

This dissertation presents the results of in-depth qualitative interviews with twenty-three formerly imprisoned men regarding their lived experience with prison conflict and the pain of incarceration. The results suggest that prison is a gendered ‘total institution’ (Goffman 1961). The pains that men experience in prison are uniquely gendered in that the deprivations imposed by incarceration– deprivation of autonomy, liberty, goods and services, heterosexual sex, and security (Sykes 1958) – in the reverse, define idealized masculinity as it is currently socially constructed: self-reliance, independence, toughness or invulnerability, material and economic success, and heterosexual prowess. From these shared deprivations emerges a gendered code of conduct that perpetuates a hierarchy among incarcerated men by constructing violent masculinity as a subcultural norm. The results suggest that the gender code in prison represents a set of rules that create opportunities for men to police each other’s gender performance and make claims to masculine statuses. Because status is inextricably tied to survival in this context, many men feel pressured to perform violent masculinities in prison despite privately subscribing to a non-violent sense of self-concept. The results suggest that violence is an expressive and instrumental resource for men in prison. A gender theory of prison violence, methodological findings, theoretical implications, ethical considerations and the short and long term aftermath of violent prison conflict are discussed.

Weight Loss in the Chiropractic Profession

Background: Excess weight places a significant burden on health. Clinical practice guidelines advise healthcare professionals to provide weight management interventions to patients with overweight and obesity. Chiropractic practice may provide a unique opportunity to deliver weight management interventions to those with overweight and obesity. However, little has been done to address overweight and obesity within the chiropractic profession. Identifying the extent of this evidence-practice gap in chiropractic practice is the first step in addressing this issue. Objectives: This thesis was to assess the clinical practices of weight loss provided by chiropractors. The primary objectives were to 1) determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the adult patient population that sought chiropractic care, 2) describe the frequency and distribution of chiropractor directed weight management intervention, 3) identify associations between chiropractor directed weight management interventions and specific patient-level and chiropractor-level variables, and 4) examine the interaction between patient weight and comorbid conditions and whether chiropractors offered weight management interventions. Methods: Data from the Ontario Chiropractic Observational and Analysis Study was used (N = 42 chiropractors, N = 3523 patient encounters). Multilevel logistic regression was performed. Patient-level as well as chiropractor-level variables were investigated and associations with weight management provided by chiropractors were identified. Results: The majority of patients who sought chiropractic were overweight or obese (61.2%). Weight loss was provided to only 5.4% of patients. Chiropractors who graduated between 1995 and 2005 (OR: 0.02, 95% CI: 0.00 - 0.13) or prior to 1995 (OR: 0.08, 95% CI: 0.01 - 0.42) provided weight management significantly less than chiropractors who graduated between 2005 and 2014. No significant interaction was observed between patient adiposity and comorbid conditions with chiropractors directed weight loss. Conclusion: The majority of patients who seek chiropractic care are overweight and obese. Chiropractors are in a unique position to help improve patient health through offering weight management. However, this opportunity has not been fully realized by the chiropractic profession.

Weight Loss in the Chiropractic Profession

Background: Excess weight places a significant burden on health. Clinical practice guidelines advise healthcare professionals to provide weight management interventions to patients with overweight and obesity. Chiropractic practice may provide a unique opportunity to deliver weight management interventions to those with overweight and obesity. However, little has been done to address overweight and obesity within the chiropractic profession. Identifying the extent of this evidence-practice gap in chiropractic practice is the first step in addressing this issue. Objectives: This thesis was to assess the clinical practices of weight loss provided by chiropractors. The primary objectives were to 1) determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the adult patient population that sought chiropractic care, 2) describe the frequency and distribution of chiropractor directed weight management intervention, 3) identify associations between chiropractor directed weight management interventions and specific patient-level and chiropractor-level variables, and 4) examine the interaction between patient weight and comorbid conditions and whether chiropractors offered weight management interventions. Methods: Data from the Ontario Chiropractic Observational and Analysis Study was used (N = 42 chiropractors, N = 3523 patient encounters). Multilevel logistic regression was performed. Patient-level as well as chiropractor-level variables were investigated and associations with weight management provided by chiropractors were identified. Results: The majority of patients who sought chiropractic were overweight or obese (61.2%). Weight loss was provided to only 5.4% of patients. Chiropractors who graduated between 1995 and 2005 (OR: 0.02, 95% CI: 0.00 - 0.13) or prior to 1995 (OR: 0.08, 95% CI: 0.01 - 0.42) provided weight management significantly less than chiropractors who graduated between 2005 and 2014. No significant interaction was observed between patient adiposity and comorbid conditions with chiropractors directed weight loss. Conclusion: The majority of patients who seek chiropractic care are overweight and obese. Chiropractors are in a unique position to help improve patient health through offering weight management. However, this opportunity has not been fully realized by the chiropractic profession.