MSpace

MSpace is the University of Manitoba’s Institutional Repository. The purpose of MSpace is to acquire, preserve and provide access to the scholarly works of University faculty and students within an open access environment.

 

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Open Access
Optimization of mycelium bio-foam packaging design through drop test simulations and environmental impact assessment
(2024-08-14) Zoungrana, Ali; Hausner, Georg (Microbiology); Lozecznik, Stanislaw (Civil Engineering); Yuan, Qiuyan
The escalating demand for packaging materials, driven by the changes in consumptions patterns and e-commerce, has placed immense pressure on the environment. Traditionally dominated by plastic materials, the packaging industry is struggling with the material's detrimental environmental impacts, including resource depletion and persistent waste. This research explores the potential of mycelium-based bio-foam (MBF) as a promising eco-friendly substitute of foam packaging such as expanded polystyrene (EPS). A comprehensive market analysis revealed a growing public consciousness regarding plastic pollution and a corresponding desire for sustainable packaging solutions. While the potential of MBF was recognized, concerns about weight, cost, and environmental performance emerged as key barriers to widespread adoption. To address these challenges, this study focused on optimizing MBF design and assessing its overall environmental profile. Through finite element analysis (FEA) simulations of drop tests on a 32-inch flat-screen TV and a porcelain vase, the study evaluated the impact of MBF properties and design configurations on shock absorption performance. Results demonstrated MBF's ability to protect both products from damage under various impact scenarios. Optimization of MBF design parameters, such as thickness and configuration, proved crucial in achieving optimal protection while minimizing material usage. To comprehensively assess the environmental implications, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted comparing MBF to EPS foam packaging. While MBF exhibited higher transportation emissions due to its greater weight, the overall environmental impact was notably lower across the product lifecycle compared EPS. Factors such as biodegradability and reduced energy consumption during production contributed to MBF's superior environmental performance. This research highlights the potential of MBF as an alternative to traditional polystyrene packaging. However, to fully realize its commercial viability, continued research and development are essential to address challenges related to weight optimization, cost reduction, and large-scale production. By investing in these areas, the packaging industry can accelerate the transition towards a more sustainable future.
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Open Access
A preliminary human rights-based analysis of Winnipeg's municipal budget
(2024-09-11) Maybituin, Trixie; Curnow, Joe (Educational Administration, Foundations and Psychology); Hudson, Ian (Economics); Derejko, Nathan
Each year, the City of Winnipeg formulates an operating and capital budget for municipal-ran services, including Water and Waste, Fire Paramedic Services, Community Services, Property and Development, City clerks, and the Police Service. The two departments that receive the most money in the tax-supported operating budget are the police services and public works despite community demands in Winnipeg for more resources towards libraries, public washrooms, transit, and housing due to its declining conditions. The continued prioritization of these services poses a question: are economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR) priorities of the City of Winnipeg? Article 2(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) obliges States to use its maximum available resources to progressively realize ESCR. Using the ICESCR’s Article 2(1) framework, the study conducts a preliminary human rights-based budget analysis of Winnipeg’s municipal budget from 2020 to 2024. The findings reveal that, in addition to the disproportionate allocation of resources between services benefitting civil and political rights (CPR) and ESCR that prioritizes the former than the latter, the City of Winnipeg is failing to utilise its maximum available resources to progressively realize the ESCR under Community Services by underspending resources already adopted for the department.
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Open Access
Power and paradigms in accounts of Iran’s human rights situation: a case of epistemic injustice
(2024-08-23) Shabani, Fatemeh; Jacoby, Tami (Political Studies); Peeler, Bryan (Political Studies); Derejko, Nathan
This thesis investigates paradigms and power dynamics perpetuating epistemic injustice against Iranians seeking recognition as victims of systemic human rights abuses. Chapter One critiques three methodological paradigms—cultural relativism, cultural essentialism, and methodological nationalism—that influence discourse on cultural rights and identity in non-Western contexts. Chapter Two uses Ontological Security Theory to analyze how the states’ international representation of cultural identities and domination of cultural discourse within the United Nations clash with people’s cultural rights. Chapter Three explores the Iranian government’s communicative strategies and victim-based identity claims, hijacking the victimhood of Iranians as true victims of systemic human rights abuses. The findings advocate for a reconceptualization of cultural rights and cultural identity within international human rights law based on a cosmopolitan approach, de-essentializing identities and states’ withdrawal from the realm of culture and identity, acknowledging that human dignity relies fundamentally on autonomy and self-determination. This thesis also makes the case that conceptualizing identity, victimhood, and resistance should center around human suffering rather than the state-centric concept of internationally wrongful acts, as recognizing the priority of human dignity over state sovereignty minimizes the influence of states’ communicative strategies to politicize and hijack narratives of victimhood.
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Open Access
Novel cattail paper sheet development for manufacturing compostable cups
(0024-08-26) Raju, Md Mezbah Uddin; Levin, David ( Biosystems Engineering); Liu, Song ( Biosystems Engineering); Rahman, Mashiur
Cattail biomass is an abundant and cost-effective source of fiber in the Prairie region of Canada. Despite advancements in the development of eco-friendly disposable tableware using non-wood biomass, the potential use of waste fibrous cattail biomass for paper production remains unexplored. This study investigates the feasibility of using cattail biomass combined with a biodegradable polymer coating like polylactic acid (PLA), to produce fully compostable beverage cups. In the current research, fibers were extracted from cattail plant leaves, achieving a 32% yield through optimized alkali retting using a 2.5% NaOH solution at 90°C for 4 hours. These fibers were then used to produce paper sheets under optimal pulping conditions: a consistency of 1.5%, a blending time of 3.5 minutes, and beating-agitation at 2,300 rpm. The uncoated Cattail paper sheets had an average basis weight of 298 g/m² and a thickness of 0.76 mm, both higher than those of the standard uncoated paper sheets used to manufacture commercial (Fools & Horses Coffee Inc.) single-use paper beverage cups provided by (293 g/m² and 0.41 mm). However, the Cattail-paper sheets exhibited lower tensile index, modulus, and bursting index (14.11 Nm/g, 1.06 GPa, and 0.04 kPa·m²/g) compared to the commercial coffee cup paper sheets (19.33 Nm/g, 1.22 GPa, and 0.1 kPa·m²/g). Cattail paper sheets were coated by applying four layers of a PLA polymer solution (at concentrations of 3%, 4%, and 5% w/v in dichloromethane solvent) using compressed air at 15 psi under ambient conditions. The polymer-coated paper sheets produced with varying coating percentages exhibited higher average basis weight and thickness (363 to 375 g/m² and 0.87 to 0.88 mm) compared to the standard coated commercial cup paper sheets (344 g/m² and 0.49 mm). The mechanical properties, including tensile index, modulus, and bursting index, as well as air permeability, of the coated Cattail paper sheets were found to be comparatively lower than those of the standard coated commercial cup paper sheets. However, the water contact angle of the coated Cattail paper sheets was higher. Additionally, the thermal conductivity of the coated Cattail paper was comparable to that of other paper materials coated with PLA polymer. The results of this study have important implications for the development of cost-effective, fully compostable, and environmentally sustainable single-use paper cups for the food and beverage industry and will provide a valuable opportunity to enhance the utilization of locally available biomass resources.
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Open Access
The effects of lowering arm ergometer crank axis in relation to the shoulder joint on exercise duration, physiological responses, and perceived function in people living with spinal cord injury: a randomized cross-over trial
(2024-07-23) Park, Yoon-Sik; Duhamel, Todd (Kinesiology and Recreation Management); MacNeil, Brian (Physical Therapy); Villar, Rodrigo; Cowley, Kristine
Introduction: Currently, there is no cure for spinal cord injury (SCI). People living with SCI face numerous life-threatening risks due to motor, sensory, autonomic, cardiovascular, and respiratory dysfunctions. Exercise is fundamental for these individuals to manage these diverse risks, where arm crank ergometry (ACErg) exercise is one of the most commonly used methods. However, the efficiency of the traditionally recommended crank axis height at shoulder level (ASL) during the ACErg has not been systematically investigated. Furthermore, their exercise capacity is significantly low, particularly those with cervical injury, making it challenging to maximize exercise benefits. So, exercise optimization is fundamental to improving exercise performance and physiological responses and promoting health benefits. Thus, this study aims to determine the effects of lowering the arm crank height during ACErg on exercise duration, physiological responses, and perceived function during maximal and submaximal exercise of persons with SCI. Methods: This randomized cross-over trial was conducted from July 2023 to April 2024 at the Spinal Cord Research Centre Human Laboratory in Winnipeg, Canada. Eight participants (C5-T12 injury level) underwent two peak oxygen uptake (V ̇O2peak) tests and two constant workload tests (CWT) until fatigue with the axis of the arm crank height ASL and below shoulder level (BSL). The Wilcoxon sign-rank test (two-tailed) was used to compare exercise durations and physiological responses between the two crank heights. Results: Exercise duration during the CWT was significantly longer with the crank axis BSL compared to ASL (Mdn=512 vs 410, W = 35, p = 0.016, r = 0.944). However, there was no effect on V ̇O2peak, peak carbon dioxide output (V ̇CO2peak), peak respiratory quotient (RQpeak), peak heart rate (HRpeak), time to all these variables, and test duration during the V ̇O2peak test. For perceived function, 87.5% of our participants favoured BSL over ASL (12.5%) during both the V ̇O2peak and the CWT. Conclusion: Arm crank exercise performed below shoulder level resulted in longer duration and better perceived function in people with SCI. These results prompt reconsideration regarding the recommendation of using the ASL condition in clinical and research settings as well as rehabilitation programs for this population.
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Open Access
Cannabis use and psychotherapeutic outcomes for PTSD in Canadian military and veterans
(2024-09-10) Southall, Martine; Enns, Murray (Psychiatry); Barber, Kevin (Clinical Health Psychology); Holens, Pamela
Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members and veterans are increasingly choosing cannabis to manage mental health symptoms, including those of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Although psychotherapeutic treatments are recommended for PTSD, there is a lack of high-quality research regarding the potential impacts of cannabis use on treatment outcomes. The little research that has examined cannabis use and psychotherapeutic treatment for PTSD has produced mixed results. There is also a lack of detailed information on cannabis use characteristics (e.g., frequency, THC potency, CBD:THC ratio) of CAF members and veterans and how these may relate to treatment outcomes. Further, little is known about CAF members’ and veterans’ experiences of cannabis use during psychotherapeutic treatment. This study utilized a pre-post-follow-up design to examine psychotherapeutic treatment outcomes of 11 treatment-seeking CAF members and veterans with clinical or sub-clinical PTSD. Multilevel modelling was used to compare outcomes of those who use cannabis (n = 4), and those who did not use cannabis (n = 7). No statistically significant results were found, however the comparison was of low power due to sample size. A regression analysis examined the potential relationships between cannabis-use characteristics and PTSD symptoms at pre-treatment (which included all participants who for whom there was adequate data), however, again, there were no statistically significant results and the analysis was of low power (n = 9). Descriptive results on cannabis use characteristics highlighted a high degree of heterogeneity even in the small sample suggesting that future research that measures cannabis in a more detailed way may aid in clarifying the currently mixed findings. Thematic analysis of open-ended questions highlighted several important themes regarding factors influencing cannabis use decisions and experiences. Careful consideration of both benefits and drawbacks of cannabis, as well as personal beliefs and history, appear to play important roles in cannabis use choices and experiences. Clinicians could benefit from the knowledge that cannabis use varies considerably in this population, and from understanding factors that may relate to their clients’ cannabis use decisions and experiences. Clinicians could use themes identified in this study as starting points for more informed conversations around cannabis use with clients.
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Open Access
When private self-compassion goes public: effects of social media self-disclosure
(2024-03-14) Sukovieff, Alyse; Cameron, Jessica (Psychology); Bailis, Dan (Psychology); Tze, Virginia (Educational Administration, Foundations & Psychology); Mills, Jennifer (York University); Johnson, Ed
Both practicing self-compassion and sharing difficult experiences with trusted others to feel less alone in suffering can help individuals decrease their negative affect (Masaviru, 2016; Neff, 2003). When completed privately, self-compassion exercises can partly reduce negative affect following a shame-recall exercise, and self-disclosure literature suggests that sharing private information with a select few can benefit the individual. Social media’s popularity has brought together public disclosures, and discussions of difficult experiences. Contrary to the traditional use of social media in which users seek approval from their audience (Pinkerton et al., 2017; Sheldon & Newman, 2019), social media users are beginning to share posts about their imperfections while being self-compassionate. This research examined whether it is beneficial for university students to use social media to publicly engage in typically private practices of self-compassion. I hypothesized that those who wrote about difficult experiences with self-compassion in a public manner would experience higher negative affect, less emotional relief, and greater desire for reassurance than those who wrote in this way privately. To test this hypothesis, in Study 1 I developed and evaluated an embarrassment-recall task because sharing of embarrassment can be especially helpful in reducing this uncomfortable emotion (Leary et al., 1996). Participants in Study 1 rated their affect before and after an embarrassment-recall and a self-compassion induction. Study 2 included two independent projects: Study 2a used online questionnaires to examine correlations of participant traits and social media behaviours, while Study 2b used the embarrassment task from Study 1 to consider how variations in the expectations of privacy (private vs. public) for self-compassionate writing affected how participants evaluated their self-compassionate writing and whether they endorsed hopes related to reassurance-seeking. Participants imagined re-reading or sharing their writing on social media and then rated their hopes and affect. Study 1 demonstrated that the novel embarrassment recall task performed comparably to the existing shame recall tasks in that negative affect reduced at a similar rate for both types of recall following a self-compassion induction, forming the basis for Study 2. Study 2a demonstrated that higher trait self-compassion and lower reassurance-seeking were related to social media posting behaviour. Study 2b demonstrated that participants who imagined posting their writing to their social media had few hopes for their writing, whereas those who wrote privately were hopeful that their writing would benefit them in multiple ways. The discussion considers how the results help to broaden our understanding of social media, self-compassion, and provide new experimental methods for advancing self-compassion research.
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Open Access
Human rights and reproductive healthcare in rural, remote, and northern Manitoba
(2024-07-17) Gobert, Erin; Larios, Lindsay (Social Work); McGavock, Jon (Pediatrics and Child Health); Larcombe, Linda
This study aims to analyze if there are human rights violations regarding reproductive healthcare in rural, remote, and northern Manitoba, focusing on STBBIs, contraception, maternity care, and abortion. No similar research applies international human rights treaties to reproductive healthcare in rural Manitoba. There is minimal research on reproductive healthcare in the region. Chapter one focuses on Canada’s human rights obligations based on international human rights treaties. Chapter two maps out what reproductive healthcare is available in the region. Chapter three analyses how reproductive healthcare in Manitoba meets and does not meet Canada’s international human rights obligations. Chapter four makes recommendations. The respect, protect, fulfil framework, is used to analyze if there are human rights violations occurring in Manitoba in relation to reproductive healthcare. The research includes a scoping review. An analysis if the reproductive care provided in rural, remote, and northern Manitoba amounts to a human rights violation is complex. Rural, remote, and northern Manitoba is vast geographically. The research found limited or no violations in obligations related to STBBIs and contraceptives. Concerningly, there were many violations in relation to obligations surrounding care for pregnancy, including abortion and maternity care, specifically around prenatal care and the birth evacuation policy.
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Open Access
Lost childhood: the neglected archaeology of children in Iran
(2024-08-28) Ghasemi, Shaghayegh; Kelvin, Laura (Anthropology); Collins, Benjamin (Anthropology); Rosenoff Gauvin, Lara
This thesis explores the underrepresentation of children in Iranian archaeology, particularly within the framework of North American scholarship. It aims to shed light on the reasons behind the neglect of children's contributions in ancient societies and examines the cultural, social, and academic biases that have contributed to this oversight. Through a comprehensive scoping review of both Iranian and North American archaeological literature, the research identifies key gaps in the study of children, highlighting the dominant focus on monumental architecture and male-centric narratives. This neglect not only limits our understanding of ancient societies but also perpetuates a biased view of the past. By integrating feminist and decolonizing methodologies, this thesis advocates for a more inclusive approach that recognizes the significant roles children played in shaping ancient Iranian societies. The study further discusses how incorporating child-centered perspectives can enrich archaeological narratives, leading to a deeper and more nuanced interpretation of Iran’s cultural heritage. Furthermore, it emphasizes how children, as active agents, contributed to the transmission of knowledge, innovation, and social structures within their communities. This research emphasizes the need for greater engagement by both Iranian and North American archaeologists in the study of children, arguing that such efforts will contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of historical and prehistorical communities. By addressing these gaps and biases, the research underscores the potential of child-focused archaeology to reveal new insights into the social, cultural, and economic dynamics of past societies in Iran and beyond.
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Embargo
From the White Horse Plain to the shores of Lake Manitoba: migration stories of my maternal Metis family the Brelands, Naults/Neaults, Thiberts, and Zaces/Zastres.
(2024-08-27) Kines, Mona; Perry, Adele (History); Hancock, Robert (Indigenous Studies); Parent, David
The socioeconomic and cultural beginnings of the Metis are found within family, extending outward through kinship networks or kinscapes created and maintained to connect families and communities to each other across distances (Lakomaki 2014 in St-Onge and Macdougall 2021, 90). Mobility and migration were both familiar and necessary elements of Metis life. Scholar Chris Anderson (2014) described his own historic self-understanding of being Metis “as a form of memory and nostalgia rooted in the people, places, and events tied to a core of Metis peoplehood, despite its widespread marginalization in contemporary white society” (270). Utilizing genealogical reconstructions and ancestor biographies, this thesis recounts the migration stories of the Breland, Nault/Neault, Thibert, and Zace/Zastre families from which I am a direct descendent. It examines and describes the precolonial beginnings of these Metis families, their early presence on the lands of the northern plains and northwest, their migration to the Red River Settlement, and their subsequent dispersal to the western shores of Lake Manitoba where they established the communities of Ste. Rose du Lac and Cayer. The work is framed by two Indigenous studies frameworks, Wahkootowin (Macdougall 2010; Wildcat 2018; Campbell 2007) and Insurgent Research (Adam Gaudry 2011). Key concepts that provide context for each family’s story include relationality (Moreton-Robinson 2017; Wildcat & Voth 2023), peoplehood (Andersen 2014; Hancock 2021), nationhood (Andersen 2014), and community (Stevenson 2020; Hogue 2015, Andersen 2014).