Algoma University
  • Sault Ste. Marie, Canada
Recent publications
Plant species commonly associate with symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and pathogenic root fungi, with many plants overlapping in their fungal community compositions. Overlap in AM fungi could promote coexistence by favouring competitively inferior or rare plants, or through the establishment of common mycorrhizal networks. Coexistence could also, however, be impeded if shared AM fungi disproportionately benefit competitively superior or abundant plant species. Overlap in pathogenic root fungi among closely growing plant species should increase the likelihood that an uninfected plant becomes infected, leading to reduced coexistence. Using vegetation plot data from an old‐field plant community along with high‐throughput sequence data on AM and pathogenic root fungal associations, we conducted three specific evaluations. First, we used null models to determine whether estimated overlap in AM or pathogenic root fungi among coexisting plant species was higher or lower than expected by chance. Second, we assessed whether estimated overlap in AM and pathogenic fungi differed between positively co‐occurring and negatively co‐occurring plant species. Third, we examined whether variation in plot‐level plant species richness was explained by the degree of estimated overlap in AM and pathogenic root fungi among those species. We found no evidence that estimated overlap in AM or pathogenic root fungal communities was higher or lower than expected under our null model. Additionally, positively and negatively co‐occurring pairs of plant species did not differ in their estimated overlap in either group of fungi. However, plant species richness was significantly higher in plots where plants were estimated to overlap more in AM fungi and significantly lower in plots where plant species were estimated to overlap more in pathogenic root fungi. Our results suggest that overlap in root fungal associations among plant species appears to be predictive of plant species richness, and therefore the assembly of plant communities. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Introduction The Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) is described as a pedagogical experience linking the classrooms of two or more higher education institutions across culturally and linguistically differentiated regions. COIL intends to provide academics and students with the ability to communicate and collaborate with peers internationally through online interactions. During the Fall of 2021, this collaboration involved the Universitat Jaume I (UJI), located in the city of Castelló de la Plana in Spain and Algoma University, located on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabek Nation, as well as the homelands of the Métis Nation. The student profiles, each institutions’ geographical locations, as well as the linguistic, cultural and critical approaches to teaching and learning provided ample opportunities and challenges for the development and implementation of this experience. Methods The purpose of this paper is to provide a pedagogical reflection on the development of a 5-week module taught together during three academic years. The authors provide an account and reflection of their collaboration centered on the institutional challenges and opportunities that currently exist for courses that aim to engage Indigenous and critical/ecological thinking. Results and discussion The background of the collaboration leads to a detailed analysis of the context of COIL implementation and the reflections on the modules’ development and improvement. Our recommendations are based on lessons learned from the substantive and technical challenges and opportunities on the complexity of teaching about contemporary ecological/social issues, as well as the tools required to inspire future activists.
In this study, we utilize density functional theory (DFT) calculations to investigate the structural and electronic properties of YAg-B2(CsCl) and YCu-B2(CsCl) intermetallic compounds (IMCs). Our enthalpy calculations confirm that these compounds crystallize in a CsCl-type structure, highlighting their stability in this phase. The lattice constants provide insights into the atomic arrangement and bonding strength within the crystal, influencing the material’s density and overall structural integrity. The bulk modulus reflects the material’s resistance to uniform compression, indicative of its incompressibility, and rigidity, which are essential for applications requiring high strength and durability. By analyzing the density of states (DOSs) and electronic band structure (BS), we further discuss the electronic stability and metallic nature of these materials. Additionally, the electronic properties derived from the DOS and BS analysis suggest good electrical conductivity, making these materials suitable for use in electronic and optoelectronic devices. The calculated equilibrium structural parameters, including bulk modulus, lattice constants, and their derivatives, are found to be in good agreement with available experimental and theoretical data. Understanding these properties is crucial for optimizing the performance of YAg and YCu intermetallics in practical applications, from structural components to advanced electronic systems.
The plant lipid polymers cutin and suberin play a critical role in many aspects of plant growth and development, and physiology. The mechanisms of cutin and suberin biosynthesis are relatively well understood thanks to just over two decades of work with primarily Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) mutants. Recent advances in our understanding of cutin and suberin structure have arisen through the application of novel chemistries targeted at quantitative comprehension of intermolecular linkages, isolating intact suberins and cutins, and the application of advanced analytical techniques. The advent of high throughput transcription factor binding assays and next generation sequencing has facilitated the discovery of numerous cutin and suberin-regulating transcription factors and their gene promoter targets. Herein we provide an overview of aspects of cutin and suberin structure, biosynthesis, and transcriptional regulation of their synthesis highlighting recent developments in our understanding of these facets of cutin and suberin biology. We further identify outstanding questions in these respective areas and provide perspectives on how to advance the field to address these questions.
Interest in winter limnology is growing rapidly, but progress is hindered by a shortage of standardized multivariate datasets on winter conditions. Addressing the winter data gap will enhance our understanding of winter ecosystem function and of lake response to environmental change. Here, we describe a dataset generated by a multi‐institutional winter sampling campaign across all five Laurentian Great Lakes and some of their connecting waters (the Great Lakes Winter Grab). The objective of Winter Grab was to characterize mid‐winter limnological conditions in the Great Lakes using standard sample collection and analysis methods. Nineteen research groups sampled 49 locations varying widely in depth and trophic status, collecting a range of limnological data. This dataset includes physical, chemical, and biological measurements. These data can be used to examine diverse aspects of Great Lakes ecosystems or integrated with winter observations from other lakes to improve understanding of winter limnology across different aquatic systems.
Indigenous post-secondary students face cumbersome barriers to educational attainment. This article explores those barriers and presents findings from a survey of Indigenous students conducted at Algoma University in Sault St. Marie, Ontario, Canada. For First Nations’ students surveyed in 2016 ( n = 36), funding was identified as a major barrier and, considering that nearly half of students had dependents, finding affordable housing and childcare was a significant challenge. The transition to an urban area from living on-reserve is also difficult for many students. The Anishinaabe Initiatives Division at Algoma University hosted culturally affirming events for Indigenous students. We found this to be an effective tool universities can use to bolster student resilience and foster a sense of belonging. We also propose that funding on university campuses must increase to support Indigenous students’ educational attainment goals.
Evidence fails to capture disparities amongst African countries in terms of the measure of administered COVID-19 vaccine doses per 100 people. Assessment of data on doses secured, administered, and supplied was undertaken to investigate quantitative measures that impacted COVID-19 vaccine deployment, thereby emphasizing distribution and supply indicators. We employ a full linear regression to identify independent variables that have an impact on vaccination rates, including macroeconomic indicators such as World Bank Income Classification, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and various indices such as Health Access and Quality Index, Human Development Index, Global Peace Index, Education Index, Political Stability Index and Government Effectiveness. This analysis aims to construct a statistical model utilizing regression analysis to identify key drivers of COVID-19 vaccine deployment in Africa and offer insights into vaccination disparities in the continent. Recognizing the global importance of achieving high vaccination rates, the study sheds light on specific challenges faced by individual countries within Africa, thereby emphasizing the need for tailored efforts. Beyond COVID-19, the research contributes to understanding the relationship between vaccination rates and social indicators that, potentially impact broader public health concerns and global vaccination programs. This study provides a foundation for informed policymaking to enhance vaccine accessibility, inform targeted programs, and improve individual health systems, thereby addressing broader implications for global health.
Blockchains are usually managed by blockchain nodes, which maintain a copy of all the blockchain's data and participate in validating transactions and reaching consensus with other blockchain nodes. However, running a blockchain node on your own is not easy due to the high maintenance costs and specialized hardware needed. Blockchain-as-a-service has been introduced recently by cloud giants to enable enterprises to manage blockchain nodes and networks by abstracting infrastructure setup complexities. While current BaaS solutions simplify integration and development, they suffer from inefficiencies due to fixed resources, scalability challenges, and cost inefficiencies. The purpose of this article is to analyze the integration of blockchain technology with cloud computing. In particular, we identify the costs, performance, scalability, and other challenges relating to blockchain-as-a-service. As part of our proposal, we suggest dynamic resource allocation, optimizing node computation to match web3 application requirements, and improving blockchain node scalability. The real-time adaptability of this approach ensures cost efficiency and performance improvements as workload changes. Finally, we provide research directions relevant to future research that will be required to fully utilize blockchain and cloud technology.
We provide a worldline representation of the one-loop effective action for a Dirac particle coupled to external scalar, pseudoscalar, vector and axialvector fields. Extending previous work by two of the authors on the pure vector-axialvector case to all four couplings, it allows one to treat the real and the imaginary parts of the effective action in a unified manner, at the price of having a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. Unlike existing worldline representations, our new worldline action contains terms with an odd number of Grassmann fields, leading to ordering problems that in the worldline formalism are usually encountered only in curved space. Drawing on the highly developed technology for worldline path-integrals in gravity, we employ the Time Slicing regularisation of the path integral which comes about with a specific “counterterm Lagrangian”, which we calculate once and for all and non-perturbatively, to provide unambiguous rules to treat products of distributions occurring in some diagrams of the one-dimensional worldline theory. We then employ the usual worldline machinery to lay out the rules for the calculation of the effective action itself as well as the corresponding one-loop amplitudes. We test the formalism on the calculation of various heat-kernel coefficients, self energies and scattering amplitudes, including the Higgs decay into two photons or gluons and the PCAC relation. In all cases we find perfect agreement with more established approaches.
This chapter provides an overview of the evolution of telehealth within the field of pediatric psychology, pre- and post-pandemic onset. The expansion of telehealth within pediatric settings has resulted in rapid changes in clinical practice, policy, and research. Pediatric psychologists are especially adaptable to the use of telehealth modalities and are leaders in its adoption within pediatric medical specialty settings. We provide a review of the research on pediatric telehealth, highlight current best practices for providers, discuss considerations for training and supervision, and briefly examine the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the future of telehealth care. In a rapidly changing technology landscape, this chapter provides graduate students, trainees, and pediatric psychologists with an introduction to telehealth research and some practical guidelines for implementation.
Stimulating sustainable FDI through the connection of financial development and its moderating relationships with environmental quality and regulatory quality emerges as a crucial agenda nowadays. This study investigates into this relationship using quarterly data from 1990Q1 to 2022Q4 for Canada; employing ARDL bound tests, Granger Causality, and FM-OLS econometric models. Foreign direct investment is the dependent variable of this study. The findings confirm significant long-run relationships among financial development, stock market development, and the moderating effects of environmental and regulatory quality on FDI inflows in the Canadian economy. Conversely, in the short run, financial development, stock market development, and economic growth exhibit bidirectional causal links with FDI, while environmental quality, regulatory quality, and trade openness demonstrate unidirectional causal links with FDI. The error correction mechanism indicates that all variables quickly return to equilibrium except trade openness. Robustness checks further confirm that all the variables have fully modified co-integrating relationship with FDI inflows including the moderating effects of environmental and regulatory quality which is the innovation in the FDI-Growth existing literature. Thus, policymakers are urged to prioritize environmental quality and regulatory quality, alongside other significant explanatory variables identified in this study to promote sustainable FDI inflows.
A simple synthesis of 3‐hydroxy‐2‐(2‐nitro‐1‐arylethyl)cyclohex‐2‐en‐1‐ones, 3‐hydroxy‐5,5‐dimethyl‐2‐(2‐nitro‐1‐arylethyl)cyclohex‐2‐en‐1‐ones and 4‐hydroxy‐3‐(2‐nitro‐1‐arylethyl)pent‐3‐en‐2‐ones via conjugate addition of cyclic 1,3‐diketones, 1,3‐cyclohexanedione and 5,5‐dimethyl‐1,3‐cyclohexanedione and acyclic 1,3‐diketone, pentane‐2,4‐dione to β‐nitrostyrenes were reported. This methodology is pleasing with reliability and scalability with gram scale products that can be synthesized. image
Institution pages aggregate content on ResearchGate related to an institution. The members listed on this page have self-identified as being affiliated with this institution. Publications listed on this page were identified by our algorithms as relating to this institution. This page was not created or approved by the institution. If you represent an institution and have questions about these pages or wish to report inaccurate content, you can contact us here.
934 members
Ammar Saleem
  • Department of Biology
Nicola Shaw
  • Sociology
Pedro M. Antunes
  • Department of Biology
Shaochun Xu
  • Computer Science
Information
Address
Sault Ste. Marie, Canada