May 2022: Volume 7 Issue 1

This paper investigated whether or not there were any consistent patterns in the study habits of college students and whether or not college students studied differently than university students. Results showed that high-achieving students self-reported coming to class regularly, and they frequently used elaborative study techniques (e.g., relating readings to lecture) which have been related to better memory performance in previously published studies (Craik & Lockhart, 1972; Gurung, et al., 2010). However, these high-achieving students were still weak in their use of metacognitive skills in their studying (e.g., reviewing the questions they answered incorrectly). These results were compared to a study by Gurung et al. (2010), which used the same questions as this study to identify patterns. The comparison between university and college students is an important first step in better understanding how different types of students study and whether the effectiveness of their strategies differ. Future research should replicate this study using a larger sample of college students.

This preliminary and qualitative study examined how online cancer support programming has impacted cancer patients–specifically, the effects on their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. We also investigated how cancer support programming could be improved from the perspectives of the participants. Due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, many organizations have shifted to online-based approaches to allow for continued access. The sudden shift to online programming caused a significant learning curve for organization staff, volunteers, and members. This study was conducted entirely online and results were analyzed qualitatively. To facilitate this study, we recruited six participants from a Canadian cancer support organization. All six participants were between the ages of 60 and 70, a common age of members at this specific cancer support agency. Once participants were recruited, they received an informed consent form, interview questions, and a form requesting their consent to use their data through Google forms. The interview consisted of 10 questions and took approximately 30 to 45 minutes to complete. Through thematic analysis, we found five themes that reflected our participants’ experiences with online programming: social connection, positive emotions, growth and gains, challenges and difficulties, and easy accessibility. Our findings showed more positive than negative outcomes of online programming; however, there were still challenges, such as participants losing the strong in-person connections they once experienced. This study is especially significant as the world moves forward through the global pandemic and in-person supports are being interrupted. Many cancer patients currently rely on in-person support and, therefore, research aimed towards studying the best alternatives when in-person programming is simply not possible has become a priority issue.

Since its identification in December of 2019, every nation on this planet has faced a once-in-a-century battle against the coronavirus disease, COVID-19. As countries grappled with their own responses to the pandemic, the Canadian government spent an unprecedented amount of money to provide support to businesses that were forced to close due to lockdowns, as well as citizens who lost their jobs. 2020 saw the largest global economic downturn since the Great Depression because of these emergency measures and similar ones enacted in other countries. Government debt and deficit spending in the Canadian context is increasingly becoming a contentious political issue which warrants an extensive review of literature and past policies to map a path forward. This paper will examine austerity and Keynesianism, two political-economic policy strategies, to address the growing government debt resulting from COVID-19. Given the failures of austerity policies in alleviating economic downturns in recent crises, this paper will argue that the best strategy to address post-COVID government debt is to enact Keynesian stimulatory fiscal policy to produce economic growth. Such a strategy would provide the best economic outcome and avoid the pitfalls of austerity, which often reduces the well-being of society by cutting social programs and promoting class and gendered inequality. The pandemic has exposed shortcomings in the current economic and welfare systems reinforced by neoliberal austerity. These shortcomings have not only been exacerbated by the pandemic, but also risk hindering a more efficient and equitable recovery. This review is aimed at stimulating more research into modern applications of Keynesian fiscal policy to produce better responses to economic crises now and in the future.

The civil unrest in South Sudan has displaced masses of people, making it the world’s third largest refugee population. Close to 40% of these refugees have fled to Uganda, where many occupy United Nations refugee settlements and attempt to build new lives for themselves. The traumatic and stressful experiences of living through war, violence, and human rights violations, escaping their home country, settling in a new environment, and a lack of specialized support services severely heighten the risk for these refugees to suffer from mental health problems and even develop mental disorders. Mental health problems and disorders amidst South Sudanese refugees in Uganda are indeed prevalent and a cause for concern, as suicide rates in refugee settlements continue to increase annually, and as poor mental health leads to increased domestic violence, substance use, and high student attrition rates that lower the quality of life for these refugees. This narrative review seeks to summarize the existing knowledge on the current state of mental health amidst South Sudanese refugees in Uganda by exploring the factors influencing mental health problems and disorders, in addition to the infrastructure and support available for mental health in refugee settlements. The review has found key causes of mental health problems to fall under the themes of financial and economic issues, war-related stressors, hardship and social instability within the refugee settlement, domestic problems, stressors specific to female refugees, as well as the vulnerability of young refugee populations. The available support for mental health is largely provided by international humanitarian organizations, which tend to focus on certain vulnerable groups, revealing a lack of mental health support and resources for the general refugee population. Using these findings, directions for future interventions and research are proposed.

Tea tree oil (TTO) is a naturally-occurring chemical extracted from the leaves of the narrow-leaved paperbark tree. It is well known as an antiseptic, but its potential as a natural household cleaning agent has not been thoroughly examined. We were interested in examining the anti-fungal properties of TTO, especially on common bread mold, spores of which are common to households. This study used fresh-baked white bread as media to observe the effects of TTO at 0.06% and 0.24% concentrations on mold spore formation and 0.25% TTO on yeast fermentation. It was concluded that TTO can inhibit mold growth at 0.06% concentration but did not reduce (p=0.07) yeast CO₂ production even at 0.25% concentration. The data highlights the efficacy of TTO against household mold and, based on our yeast results, is potentially non-toxic at low concentrations. More studies are required with a variety of mold species and concentrations of TTO to better understand its use as a cleaning agent.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is one of the most powerful clinical diagnostic tools. Based on chemical principles discovered in the 1940s, MRI uses magnetic fields to excite bulk water protons throughout the body, creating an image from their responses. Although useful for the diagnosis of a variety of diseases and conditions, a lack of image clarity can result in incorrect or missed diagnoses. Due to the inherent challenges with MRI, gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) are used to modulate the response of the bulk water protons to the external magnetic fields, subsequently increasing the image contrast. Here, we discuss GBCAs and their role in overcoming the challenges with magnetic resonance (MR) image clarity.

Many nuclear energy companies, including two based in Canada (Moltex Energy and Terrestrial Energy), have become interested in reactors that use molten salts in place of water as coolant and as a medium to hold the fuel. They draw technical inspiration from the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE), a reactor that operated from 1965 to 1969 at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee (ORNL). One of the challenges with molten salt reactors involves the metallurgical materials used to manufacture the various reactor components, which would have to work in highly corrosive environments at elevated temperatures. To solve this problem, the MSRE developed Hastelloy-N, an a y high in nickel and molybdenum but low in chromium, to manufacture most metallic parts of the reactor, including the MSRE reactor vessel, piping, and pumps for all coolant loops and heat exchangers. Hastelloy-N had superior corrosion properties to the previously favoured Incoloy (a high nickel alloy for hightemperature use), which was used in salt-containing systems for the old Aircraft Reactor Program. One of the problems experienced by Incoloy was that because of the choice of structural material, the molten salt had to be separated from any beryllium contamination. After the MSRE was shut down in 1969, a number of studies showed that Hastelloy-N had developed cracks, leading to a deterioration in mechanical properties such as creep strength. This review examines the literature and summarizes the technical problems associated with using Hastelloy-N as a nuclear construction material. These material properties are essential for assessing the feasibility of the molten salt reactor designs proposed for Canada.