Saint Xavier University

This study evaluated the bidirectional associations between peer defending and social status (perceived popularity and likability) as well as gender and grade differences in these associations. Cross‐lagged panel models were used to assess these longitudinal relationships in a sample comprised of elementary school students (Grades 5–8, N = 301, M age = 12.38, collected in May and November 2019) and high school students (Grades 9–12, N = 296, M age = 15.69, collected in November 2022 and May 2023) collected from five schools in southern Ontario, Canada. Findings revealed that overall, popularity and likability predicted future peer defending, and students who defended others became more liked over time. Additionally, our exploratory analyses indicated that boys in elementary school who defended became more popular overtime. These findings extend previous investigations into the bidirectional associations between social status and peer defending, while considering the impacts of gender and cohort. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of their novelty and considerations for bullying prevention programs.

Soil multifunctionality is essential for the enhancement of soil carbon sequestration, but disturbances such as thinning practices can influence soil microbial activity and carbon cycling. Microbial residues, particularly microbial residue carbon (MRC), are important contributors to soil organic carbon (SOC), but the effects of thinning intensity on MRC accumulation remain poorly understood. This study evaluated the impact of four thinning treatments—control (CK, 0%), light-intensity thinning (LIT, 20%), medium-intensity thinning (MIT, 30%), and high-intensity thinning (HIT, 45%)—on soil multifunctionality in Chinese fir plantations five years after thinning. Soil nutrient provision, microbial biomass, enzyme activity, and microbial residue carbon were assessed. The results showed that thinning intensity significantly affected soil nutrient provision and microbial biomass, with MIT and HIT showing higher nutrient levels than CK and LIT. Specifically, MIT’s and HIT’s total nutrient provision increased by 0.04 and 0.15 compared to that of CK. Enzyme activity was highest in LIT (+0.89), followed by MIT (+0.07), with HIT showing a decline (−0.84). Microbial biomass, including bacterial PLFAs (B-PLFAs), fungal PLFAs (F-PLFAs), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), and nitrogen (MBN), was highest in CK and MIT, and lowest in HIT, with MIT showing a 0.13 increase compared to CK. Microbial residue carbon (MRC) accumulation was positively correlated with soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), available nitrogen (AN), and easily oxidized organic carbon (EOC). The highest MRC content in the 0–20 cm soil layer was observed in MIT and CK (10.46 and 11.66 g/kg, respectively), while the MRC in LIT and HIT was significantly lower, reduced by 24% and 12%, respectively. These findings highlight the significant role of thinning intensity in microbial activity and carbon cycling. Medium-intensity thinning (MIT, 30%) was identified as the most effective approach for promoting microbial biomass and enhancing carbon cycling in Chinese fir forest soils, making it an optimal approach for forest management aimed at increasing soil carbon sequestration.

Background Implementation Science research completed with equity-deserving populations is not well understood or explored. The current opioid epidemic challenges healthcare systems to improve existing practices through implementation of evidence-based interventions. Pregnant persons diagnosed with opioid use disorder (OUD) is an equity-deserving population that continues to experience stigmatization within our healthcare system. Efforts are being made to implement novel approaches to care for this population; however, the implementation research continues to leave the voices of pregnant persons unheard, compounding the existing stigma and marginalization experienced. Methods This debate paper highlights a specific case that explores the implementation of the Eat, Sleep, Console (ESC) model of care, a function-based empowerment model used to guide the care for pregnant persons diagnosed with OUD and their infants. We establish our debate within the conceptual discussion of Nguyen and colleagues (2020), and critically analyze the collaborative research approaches, engaged scholarship, Mode 2 research, co-production, participatory research and IKT, within the context of engaging equity-deserving populations in research. We completed a literature search in CINAHL, Google Scholar, PubMed and Embase using keywords including collaborative research, engagement, equity-deserving, marginalized populations, birthparents, substance use and opioid use disorder with Boolean operators, to support our debate. Discussion IKT and Community Based Participatory Action Research (CBPR) were deemed the most aligned approaches within the case, and boast many similarities; however, they are fundamentally distinct. Although CBPR’s intentional methods to address social injustices are essential to consider in research with pregnant persons diagnosed with OUD, IKT aligned best within the implementation science inquiry due to its neutral philosophical underpinning and congruent aims in exploring complex implementation science inquiries. A fundamental gap was noted in IKT’s intentional considerations to empowerment and equitable engagement of equity-deserving populations in research; therefore, we proposed informing an IKT approach with Edelman’s Trauma and Resilience Informed Research Principles and Practice (TRIRPP) Framework.

Sexual and romantic rejection are issues that humans have faced for centuries. Recently, experiences such as these have developed into a form of identity and community rallying point. Involuntary celibates (incels) are one example of this phenomenon; however, the group have achieved notoriety for their association with violent attacks and promotion of misogyny in response to their frustration. While recent work has identified that incels suffer from more mental and relational health issues, what is left to be determined is why individuals who are experiencing romantic or sexual rejection would adopt the incel label, given the infamy of the group. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, the present study explored the psychosocial influences and drivers behind incel identity development via interviews with self-identified incels. Six superordinate themes were identified, including a history of social exclusion, blame attribution, psychosocial insights, responses to rejection, the value placed on feeling included, and the development of a (threatened) social identity. These results reveal how social rejection and exclusion impact incel identity formation suggesting that theories like interpersonal rejection theory, social identity theory, and attribution theory may help explain why some men adopt the incel label. Overall, the study highlights the complexity of the incel phenomenon and the need to provide more effective support for self-identified incels.

Software-defined networking (SDN) is envisioned to be a main pillar in the management of emerging networks such as satellite networks (SatNets), vehicular ad hoc networks (VANET), and the Internet of Things (IoT). The concept of SDN decouples data and control planes. This allows for flexible management and configuration of network resources, enabling more efficient and dynamic network operations. The location of the controller(s) is a significant design concern for the SDN control plane, impacting several network performance parameters including latency, resiliency, energy efficiency, load balancing, etc. Several solutions have been proposed to address the controller placement problem (CPP). In this paper, we explain the CPP in SDN and discuss its importance before presenting a complete review of the CPP in software-defined emerging networks (SDEN). The problem was addressed in different ways in different emerging networks. This is due to the differences in characteristics and environment among the various types of emerging networks. However, there are some similar characteristics among VANETs, SatNet, and IoT. This allows some CPP solutions to be adopted from other emerging networks. For instance, both VANETs and SatNets are dynamic networks, thus some CPP solutions in VANETs can be adopted and adapted to work in SatNets. Throughout this review, we discuss the influencing factors and environmental requirements which should be considered while placing controllers in SatNets, VANETs, and IoT. Also, we discussed the limitations of existing solutions. Finally, the review concludes with a discussion on critical issues in CPP and potential future research directions.

Objective: We examined whether hangover-related rumination—repeatedly dwelling on negative aspects of yesterday’s drinking while hungover the following morning—predicts changes in three dimensions of heavy episodic drinking (HED) over time. Method: N = 334 emerging adults (aged 19–29) from three Eastern Canadian universities who had recently experienced a hangover completed online self-report questionnaires at baseline (Wave 1) and 30 days later (Wave 2; 71.6% retention). HED was assessed in frequency (number of HED episodes), perceptions (how participants perceived the extent of their heavy drinking), and quantity (greatest number of alcoholic drinks consumed in a single HED episode) over the past 2 weeks. Results: Levels of HED frequency, perceptions, and quantity declined overall from Waves 1 to 2. Exploratory factor analysis established two factors of hangover-related rumination: intrusiveness (unwanted thoughts about the previous night’s drinking) and regret (desire to change future drinking behavior). Structural equation models revealed that intrusiveness at Wave 1 predicted the maintenance of higher frequency and perceptions of HED at Wave 2, even as these HED measures were generally declining; regret at Wave 1 also predicted the maintenance of HED perceptions at Wave 2. Neither Wave 1 hangover rumination factor predicted changes in HED quantity at Wave 2. Models controlled Wave 1 variables, including the relevant HED outcome, overall hangover severity, total number of hangovers, generalized anxiety symptoms, sex, age, and data collection site. Conclusion: Hangover-related rumination factors are associated with the maintenance of higher HED frequency (intrusiveness factor) and HED perceptions (intrusiveness and regret factors), suggesting risk for problematic alcohol consumption.

We aimed to understand how experiences with vaccine-related information and communication challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted motivations and behaviors among Canadian adults regarding future vaccines. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants purposively selected to ensure diversity in age, sex at birth, self-identified gender, and region. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis; findings were mapped to the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model focusing on factors affecting vaccine hesitancy and uptake. Of 62 interviews completed, most were with woman (n = 32, 51.6%) and residents of Ontario (n = 36, 58.1%); the median age was 43.5 yr (interquartile range 23.3 yr). Themes included: 1) accessibility of information, 2) ability to assess information accuracy and validity, 3) trust in communications from practitioners and decision-makers, and 4) information seeking behaviors. Participants expressed various concerns about vaccines, including fears about potential side effects, particularly regarding the long-term effects of novel vaccinations. These concerns may reflect broader societal anxieties, which have been intensified by widespread misinformation and an overload of vaccine information. Moreover, participants highlighted a lack of trust in the information provided by government agencies and pharmaceutical companies, primarily driven by concerns regarding their underlying motives. Concerns about COVID-19 vaccine safety and effectiveness negatively impacted future vaccine attitudes and behaviors. Vaccine hesitancy studies should consider how individuals receive, perceive, and seek information within social contexts and risk profiles.

Ellman's procedure has been used to study the oxidation rates of cysteine (CSH) and glutathione (GSH) in aqueous solutions, and it was reported that, for CSH, the number of sulfhydryl molecules not oxidized became zero at a specific time, called tc, where it was reported to be finite. We point out that under very general considerations, we should observe tc to be unbounded, and it becomes infinite. The reason is that as the process of forming a disulfide bond proceeds, the probability of two CSH molecules finding each other eventually becomes vanishingly small so that the number of unoxidized molecules approach zero only as tc becomes infinite. We used a Smoluchowski equation to model the process of disulfide bond formation in order to understand how a finite tc can be observed. In addition, atomic scale molecular dynamics simulations were carried out in order to study the spatial distributions of CSH and GSH in aqueous solutions. It was found that electrostatic interactions bring about aggregation of these molecules, and we conclude that this aggregation “hides” unoxidized sufhydryl moieties from interacting with (5,5′-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) DTNB of Ellman's reagent, thereby remaining undetected. It will thus appear as if the number of unoxidized moieties has become zero. In order that all sulfhydryl moieties be detected, it is necessary to disrupt the aggregate, as has been carried out for proteins, so as to expose those moieties to be oxidized and be detected.

In the Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) era of quantum computing, solving complex optimization problems such as the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) remains a formidable challenge. To overcome this obstacle, we introduce a novel method in this paper that focuses on reducing the number of edges in a graph based on Euclidean distances between vertices while preserving the crucial characteristics needed for solving the VRP. Our graph coarsening approach combined with the inflation method enables the reduced graph to be processed efficiently by classical, quantum or hybrid (quantum-classical) solvers, resulting in a faster computation time. When using the proposed method with hybrid algorithms, we have demonstrated an improvement of approximately 50% in the solution found by the hybrid solver. The practicality of our method on quantum hardware highlights its potential to contribute to the advancement of quantum and hybrid algorithms and applications during the NISQ era.

In mathematical models of eco-evolutionary dynamics with a quantitative trait, two species with different strategies can coexist only if they are separated by a valley or peak of the adaptive landscape. A community is ecologically and evolutionarily stable if each species’ trait sits on global, equal fitness peaks, forming a saturated ESS community. However, the adaptive landscape may allow communities with fewer ( undersaturated ) or more ( hypersaturated ) species than the ESS. Non-ESS communities at ecological equilibrium exhibit invasion windows of strategies that can successfully invade. Hypersaturated communities can arise through mutual invasibility where each non-ESS species’ strategy lies in another’s invasion window. Hypersaturation in ESS communities with >1 species remains poorly understood. We use the G -function approach to model niche coevolution and Darwinian dynamics in a Lotka-Volterra competition model. We confirm that up to 2 (or 3) species can coexist in a hypersaturated community with a single-species ESS if the strategy is scalar-valued (or bivariate). We conjecture that at most n*(s+1) species can form a hypersaturated community, where n is the number of ESS species at the strategy’s dimension. For a scalar-valued 2-species ESS, four species coexist by “straddling” the would-be ESS traits. In a 5-species ESS, 7 or 8, but not 10, species can coexist in the hypersaturated community. In a bivariate model with a single-species ESS, an infinite number of 3-species hypersaturated communities can exist. We offer conjectures and discuss their relevance to ecosystems that may be non-ESS due to invasive species, climate change, and human-altered landscapes.

Work–life balance (WLB) remains a pressing challenge in today’s fast-paced society. The current study addresses this prominent issue by examining whether employment type and individual characteristics shape perceptions of WLB among entrepreneurs and wage earners in Trinidad and Tobago. A structured survey was administered to a sample of entrepreneurs and wage earners and responses (n = 364) were statistically analysed to determine the main and interaction effects of employment type, age, ethnicity, relationship status, and sex on perceived WLB. Perceptions of WLB were lower among wage earners, though the observed differences were nonsignificant. Age and ethnicity emerged as significant main predictors of perceived WLB, with older persons and those of mixed ethnic backgrounds reporting higher levels of WLB. These main effects were moderated by the presence of a three-way interaction effect (sex × ethnicity × employment type) at p = 0.001. Our findings suggest that WLB is an intricate phenomenon that is not exclusively dependent on the occupational form, nor on an individual’s demographic composition but rather derived from the complex interactions between these two categories of variables. Thus, while entrepreneurship and wage employment both have the potential to improve standard of living, engaging in one type of employment versus the other may have an enhancing or diminishing effect on WLB based on life stages, ethnic affiliations and, possibly, other personal factors. This study’s findings also point to a need for more family-friendly policies and family-supportive working environments in Trinidad and Tobago. Though we move the field forward by addressing a critical gap in the literature, the explanatory variables tested in this study accounted for only 33.5% of the variance in the respondents’ WLB scores. We offer suggestions to overcome this limitation and others so that future studies can produce more nuanced and generalizable causal inferences.

In this work, we construct a new evolutionary equation with multiple applications in fluids and engineering. We call it the extended (3+1)-dimensional KdV-CBS equation, an extension of the (3+1)-dimensional KdV-Calogero-Bogoyavlenskii-Schiff (KdV-CBS) equation. We apply the Painlevé integrability test to examine the compatibility conditions of this new extended model before analyzing and solving it. Subsequently, we implement the simplified Hirota's method (SHM) to analyze this model, deriving multiple soliton/shock and lump solutions, as well as breather wave solutions, based on the derived dispersion relation, with the assistance of advanced computational programs like Maple and Mathematica. Furthermore, many other techniques, such as the Tanh method and different exponential formulas, will be used to derive different physical solutions that may simulate many nonlinear phenomena that arise in fluid or plasma physics.

A classic statistical mechanical model of surface adsorption of an object that interacts with another component present in a medium was developed in this work. The effective Hamiltonian for the process is proposed and developed here, which takes into consideration the interactions between one of the objects with a surface and the interaction with another object in the medium. This model allowed for the prediction of the binding isotherm for the object. Monte Carlo computer simulations were employed to model the behavior of the system, which was in good agreement with the theory. This model was complemented with an equilibrium kinetic model of the same system and simulations. Qualitative agreement between the two approaches was achieved by introducing a degeneracy in the cooperative interaction between the object and the component, namely simultaneous positive and negative binding cooperativity of the same process. The model developed and the results obtained will help explain the variability in the foamability of barista milk, where free fatty acids are known to inhibit the adsorption of proteins to the air bubble surface. Here, we suggest that the variability observed could be due to the ratio of free fatty acids to protein, which was never considered before.

This article carried out the Lax pairs and infinite conservation laws of the stochastic potential Korteweg-de Vries (spKdV) equation, which claims its integrability in the Lax pair sense. The infinite conservation laws of the spKdV equation were established using its Lax pair. The Darboux transformation was conducted and several pertinent theorems and propositions were briefly discussed for deriving especially the complexiton-type solutions. Some complicated efficient solutions, such as higher-order positon, negaton, hybrid positon-rational solution and negaton-rational solutions were explored from the spKdV equation by choosing initial trivial seed solutions.

Sperm structure among species in each class of Aplacophora is highly conserved but between the two classes, is radically different. This together with numerous morphological differences between the two groups, suggests a long evolutionary separation. In the past a paraphyletic relationship was proposed but is not supported by current molecular analyses. All Caudofoveata examined have unique externally-fertilizing ect-aquasperm found nowhere else in the Animal Kingdom. The nucleus is capped by the apical horn which projects into a hollow apical dense tube that terminates in a simple acrosome vesicle. Exposure to egg water causes the apical dense tube to elongate by 1.5 × its length, suggesting an unusual mechanism of egg penetration. Solenogastres fertilize internally with introsperm like those described for Epimenia australis but differ in details of length and number of specific components, providing insights to relationships among them. Furthermore, the solenogaster introsperm shares at least nine characters with introsperm of the bilaterian lineage Nemertodermatida, but shares none of these characters with the sperm of Caudofoveata, Polyplacophora (chitons), or Xenoturbellida and few with Acoela, which are considered sister to Xenoturbellida. A recent re-analysis of molecular data points to the artificial nature of the Acoelomorpha (Acoela + Nemertodermatida), as a product of long-branch attraction. Shared sperm characters of Solenogastres and Nemertodermatida rather than being homoplasies may instead provide an important evolutionary link between early Bilateria and Protostomia, placing Solenogastres near the base of the tree of extant Mollusca.

How do we know what is possible or impossible, what is inevitable or unattainable, or what would happen under which circumstances? Since modal facts seem distinctively mysterious and difficult to know, the epistemology of modality has historically been fraught with uncertainty and disagreement. The recent literature has been dominated by rationalist approaches that emphasise a priori reasoning (sometimes including direct intuition of possibility). Only recently have alternative approaches emerged which recognize a broader range of sources of modal knowledge. Yet even emerging non-rationalist views have tended to assign scientific investigation at best a supporting role. Our project in this book is to develop and defend a new approach to the epistemology of modal facts which assigns a central role to scientific investigation. According to modal naturalism, science (construed broadly) is our primary source of evidence concerning the modal facts.

Societal Impact Statement Climate warming and demand for fuller‐bodied wines has resulted in increased grape sugar contents and, therefore, increased alcohol in wines. Concurrently, there are increased warnings about the health risks of alcohol, and consumers seek low‐alcohol options as part of a healthy lifestyle. High alcohol levels can also impact the flavor balance of wines, resulting in economic losses. However, exploration of native vineyard yeasts shows that fermentation with novel species can result in both alcohol reduction and improved wine flavor. Our findings show that native yeasts have the potential to bring the North American cool‐climate wine industry into a healthier future. Summary There is recent interest in developing wines fermented with non‐traditional yeasts that reflect the microbial terroir of the grape‐growing region. These native yeasts inhabit grape skins and can produce wines with distinctive flavor profiles, and when used in concert with traditional wine yeast, the risk of incomplete fermentation is minimized. Non‐traditional yeasts can also produce wines with relatively low alcohol content, an attractive characteristic given the health and societal issues associated with overconsumption. Yeasts isolated from L'Acadie and Pinot Noir grapes grown at Nova Scotia vineyards were identified by DNA sequencing and characterized regarding fermentative properties. Promising isolates of Saccharomyces uvarum, Hanseniaspora uvarum, Wickerhamomyces anomalus, and Zygotorulaspora florentina were selected for mixed and sequential fermentations with Saccharomyces cerevisiae based on their ethanol and SO2 tolerance, β‐glucosidase activity, and low H2S production. The resulting wines were evaluated for sensory properties by 15 experienced panelists. Alcohol levels of many of the fermentations that included non‐traditional yeasts were significantly lower than those made with traditional yeast alone, while fructose was higher, and total phenolic contents were similar. Experienced panelists also found that these fermentations resulted in wines with novel fruit and floral attributes. Our results demonstrate that native yeasts from cool‐climate wine regions can be used in concert with traditional wine yeast to produce novel, lower alcohol wines with a low risk of fermentation failure. This unlocks the potential of naturally occurring yeasts from these vineyards to create wines with flavor profiles that reflect the local wine‐making regions.

This chapter uncovers the reality of one man’s experiences as an armed force veteran who continues to reconcile childhood, military, and prison experiences with his battle with mental health illness. A personal narrative that highlights the necessity for compassionate mental healthcare to be provided to post-incarcerated Black men underscores prison reform. The contention is that policy and procedures within the education, mental health, and criminal justice system are designed to disenfranchise Black men.

This chapter summarizes the previous discussions that contextualize the need for mental health and criminal justice reform. Beginning with a historical recap of the evolution of Black male disenfranchisement through the school-to-prison pipeline, examples of the lived experiences of the book’s protagonist provide testimony and support for the need to make policy and procedural improvements on mental healthcare to the formerly incarcerated. The conclusion of this chapter provides cogent recommendations for mental health and criminal justice reforms and makes suggestions on how to improve existing policy that doesn’t go far enough to ensure those in need of care receive what’s needed in a dignified and compassionate manner.

Education‐related responses to our current democratic crisis have largely been focused on schooling children and youth. This narrow focus has foreclosed or diverted our attention from other possibilities for democratic education, especially as it relates to adult citizens and the ways in which such education can — and must — extend beyond schools and other formal educational institutions. In this paper, Tony DeCesare aims to theorize these possibilities in order to lay some philosophical groundwork for an idea of adult democratic education (ADE) that can help us combat our current democratic crisis and, more generally, strengthen our commitment to and practice of democracy. Drawing on the capability approach, he argues for prioritizing two related capabilities in our theorizing of ADE: (1) democratic capability , and (2) the capability to participate in ADE . These two capabilities are both deeply interconnected and central to a theoretical framework for ADE that is grounded in the capability approach.