OPUS: Open Ulethbridge Scholarship

Open ULeth Scholarship (OPUS) is the University of Lethbridge's open access research repository. It contains a collection of materials related to research and teaching produced by the academic community.

Self-archiving your research in OPUS is one way to meet Open Access policies of granting agencies. It is important to retain your final, post-peer-reviewed drafts for submission to OPUS, as this is often the only version publishers will allow to be archived. Click here for information on the U of L Open Access Policy.

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Transformational leadership and positive development: assessing the cascade effect in university sport
(Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Kinesiology and Physical Education, 2025) Hawkins, Olivia J.; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science; Rathwell, Scott
The Full-Range Leadership Model (FRLM) stipulates that transformational leadership is effective because the behaviours of the leaders cascade down throughout the organization, creating more transformational leaders. However, this phenomenon has yet to be studied within the sport context. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of the cascade effect on the relationship between coaches’ transformational leadership and university student-athletes’ (SAs) positive development (PD) over time. Using a longitudinal design, 30 athletes (20 female, Mage = 20.47) from various U SPORTS teams completed surveys at three points during their season assessing their coaches' transformational leadership behaviors (DTLI), the transformational qualities of their teammates, and their own PD outcomes (USES). Correlational analyses were used to test whether a) the number of transformational team leaders relates to changes in athletes PD, b) coaches’ TFL behaviours are related to changes in PD, and c) coaches’ TFL behaviours are related to changes in the number of transformational team leaders. Results indicated that higher levels of coaches’ transformational leadership were associated with reductions in negative sport-related experiences such as negative peer interactions and inappropriate adult behavior. Furthermore, teams with a greater density of transformational peer leaders reported stronger development in areas such as initiative, basic skills, and social capital. Evidence of a cascade effect—whereby transformational coaches influenced the emergence of transformational team leaders—was found primarily between the start and midpoint of the season. However, mediation analyses did not support the cascade effect as a mechanism linking coach leadership to PD outcomes. These findings offer novel insight into how transformational leadership functions within university sport and provide practical implications for leadership development among student-athletes.
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Biophysical characterization of non-canonical viral nucleic acid interactions with human proteins
(Lethbridge, Alta.: University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 2025) Gemmill, Danielle L.; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science; Patel, Trushar R.
Viruses are a replicative, paradoxical genetic element that are critical to our survival, but are also a significant burden to public health. Viruses that cause disease in humans continuously evolve to avoid counteroffensive measures from our immune system. Both DNA and RNA viruses have developed various methods to optimize their replication and spread to a host, such as genomic mutations that renders host antibodies ineffective, or by possessing structure that confers an advantage for propagation of virions. Moreover, the structures that viruses possess within their genomes alone provide the virus with the ability to hijack host proteins for replicative and propagation purposes by hijacking and suppression of host cellular functions, altogether benefitting the viral lifecycle. This thesis focuses on the identification of the viral nucleic acid structures that DNA and RNA viruses possess that allow them to replicate and avoid host defenses, and as well, identify host proteins being hijacked by these structures. Specifically, I characterize conserved regions of Zika virus known as the terminal regions that regulate transcription and translation of the viral genome and perform immunoprecipitation pulldown assay to identify host binding partners interacting with them that are critical for viral replication. I also elucidated a non-canonical structure (G-quadruplex) in these terminal regions that interacts with host proteins that could be utilized as a potential anti-viral target, and further, show that G-quadruplexes are also present in DNA viruses such as Mpox virus. I show that TMPyP4, a G-quadruplex binding small molecule, interacts with the Mpox G-quadruplexes and reduces viral protein production.
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Avoiding toxic charity in argumentation
(Springer, 2025) Stevens, Katharina
The interpersonal argumentative principle of charity is widely regarded as a legitimate norm for argumentation. Still, even a cursory look into the literature on argumentative charity reveals that charitable interpretations can easily become toxic. This means that they generate epistemic and moral losses by leading to distorting interpretations instead of preventing them, as the arguments for charity promise. This paper explores why argumentative charity becomes toxic and offers an attempt at identifying a kind of argumentative charity that fulfills the promises that make argumentative charity attractive. It does so by distinguishing three kinds of charity: Egocentric charity, which interprets the argument as strong from the interpreter’s point of view, emic charity, which interprets it as strong from the arguer’s point of view, and complex charity, which unites the two. Only complex charity can avoid toxicity.
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Cite me! perspectives on coercive citation in reviewing
(Emerald Publishing, 2024) Burton, Suzan; Basil, Debra; Soboleva, Alena; Nesbit, Paul
Purpose This study builds on previous discussion of an important area for both academics and academic journals – the issue of reviewers inappropriately asking for (or “coercing”) citation of their own work. That situation creates an opportunity for (hopefully a small number of) academics to engage in unethical behaviour, often with the goal of increasing their citation count. This study aims to draw attention to this often-overlooked issue, critically considering potential reviewer motivations and offering possible remedies. Design/methodology/approach This study reviews literature and critically discusses this issue, offering a typology for coercive citation suggestions and sharing previously unpublished commentary from Editors of leading journals. Findings This study provides a typology of reviewer motivations for coercing citations, suggests potential remedies and considers the positive and negative impacts of these suggestions. Originality/value This study identifies an area known from multiple discussions to be important to academics and Editors, where many want changes in journals’ practices. In response, this study provides recommendations for easy changes that would decrease the opportunity for unethical behaviour by reviewers and also, for some journals, improve the quality of reviews.
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Testing for synergistic effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbance on ecological communities at a landscape scale
(Springer, 2024) Lloren, Jed I.; McCune, Jenny L.
Context Anthropogenic and natural disturbances may interact synergistically, magnifying their individual effects on biodiversity. However, few studies have measured responses of ecological communities to multiple stressors at landscape scales. Objectives We use a long-term dataset to test for synergistic effects of anthropogenic and natural disturbance on plant community diversity and composition in a large protected area. Methods We quantified changes in plant communities over two decades in 98 plots in Waterton Lakes National Park, Canada. Fifty-three plots burned in a wildfire in the interim. We modeled the effects of wildfire, proximity to trails or roads, and their interaction on changes in species richness, community composition, relative abundance of disturbance-associated species, and colonization by exotic species. Results Interactions between wildfire and proximity to roads and trails affected all metrics except species richness. Only one interaction was synergistic: the relative abundance of disturbance-associated species following wildfire was magnified closer to recreational corridors. The other community metrics showed unexpected patterns. For example, plots with no exotic species in the baseline survey that burned in the wildfire were more likely to gain exotic species than unburned plots only when they were distant from recreational corridors. Conclusions Our study demonstrates interactive effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbance at landscape scales within a protected area. Plant community response to wildfire was influenced by proximity to recreational corridors, sometimes in surprising ways. As the frequency and severity of anthropogenic and natural disturbances both continue to rise, documenting the prevalence and magnitude of interactions between them is key to predicting long-term effects and designing mitigation strategies.