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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.

Check here for more information about OPUS.

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Communities in OPUS

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Recent Submissions

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    Immigrant women’s access and utilization of perinatal health services in southern Alberta
    (Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Faculty of Health Sciences, 2026) Laing, Rudeen A.; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Health Sciences; Lokanc-Diluzio, Wendi
    Immigration is widely recognized as a defining characteristic of Canada (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, 2024). Disparities in access to quality healthcare emerge when gender, ethnicity, and race place individuals at a social disadvantage, increasing risks of stigmatization, discrimination, and unequal treatment (World Health Organization, 2018). Women who receive early and consistent prenatal care typically experience improved health outcomes. However, multiple studies have repeatedly demonstrated that women from refugee and migrant backgrounds encounter significantly poorer perinatal outcomes (Heslehurst, 2018; Väisänen, Remes, & Martikainen, 2022; Sturrock et al., 2020; Behboudi-Gandevani et al., 2022). Over the past fifteen years, the migration of women of reproductive age to Canada has doubled, demonstrating the need for targeted investigation into their healthcare access and utilization. Therefore, this study aims to improve understanding of the perinatal experiences of immigrant women in Southern Alberta and contribute to the expanding literature on this subject. This research employed an exploratory qualitative design utilizing an interpretive approach, which was guided by intersectionality theory as the theoretical framework. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven women from immigrant backgrounds. Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis (2022) was applied to examine the data and identify key themes. The study’s findings expanded understanding of the perinatal experiences of immigrant women in Southern Alberta and revealed intersecting factors that facilitate or hinder access to essential health services. Sharing these experiences may inform the development of policies and interventions that aim to improve the level of care and healthcare utilization within this population.
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    The effect of environmental variability on population growth, reproduction, and lifespan in Lemna minor
    (Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Biological Sciences, 2026) Herman, Nicola Maria; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science; Laird, Robert A.
    Environmental variability is common in natural systems, yet many studies in the field of aging assume constant environmental conditions. In the case of Lemna minor (common duckweed), constant caloric restriction impacts population growth, reproduction, and lifespan and these responses are nonlinear (e.g. plants live much longer in highly reduced caloric availability compared to high and moderate availability). It has not been previously studied how L. minor responds when caloric availability fluctuates which is more representative of natural conditions. In a laboratory setting, I used constant and variable light regimes to simulate variable or constant caloric availability to assess if variable environmental conditions impact population growth, reproduction, and lifespan in L. minor. I found that population growth and reproductive rate decreased under variable conditions, but lifespan was unchanged. My research showed that mean conditions alone may be insufficient in predicting responses to environmental conditions in organisms when these responses are nonlinear.
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    Sex differences in functional connectivity of episodic memory networks using naturalistic stimuli
    (Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Neuroscience, 2026) O'Connor, Jane E.; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science; Ekstrand, Chelsea
    Males and females exhibit differences in episodic memory, both behaviourally and neurally. Previous research suggests that females have a general episodic memory advantage, however the neural correlates underlying this advantage remain unclear. There are significant advantages to using naturalistic stimuli for uncovering memory networks, however, there remains a gap in the literature examining recognition related network differences between older males and females using such stimuli. In the present study, 35 older adults (age 55-75 years, 17 females) encoded six narrative-driven, naturalistic scenes. Seven days later, all participants completed a delayed recognition task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), in which they viewed three previously encoded and three novel scenes. To identify differences in functional connectivity during recognition, we used functional connectivity multivariate pattern analysis (fc-MVPA) followed by post-hoc seed-based correlations (SBC). Fc-MVPA revealed eight clusters exhibiting significant differences in functional connectivity between females and males, including the left postcentral gyrus, bilateral precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex, left hippocampus, left parietal operculum cortex, left cerebellum 4 5, right posterior middle temporal gyrus, left paracingulate gyrus, left superior frontal gyrus. SBC from these clusters showed widespread differences in whole brain memory networks between males and females. Notably, the left hippocampal region of interest showed significantly greater connectivity with the default mode network (DMN) in males than females. These findings suggest older females and males exhibit distinct patterns of functional connectivity during recognition of naturalistic stimuli despite comparable recall performance. More broadly, we provide evidence for different episodic memory network architecture between older females and males that may help inform more global episodic memory systems.
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    What remains
    (Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Art, 2026) Pouzesh, Nahid; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Fine Arts; Miller, David
    This thesis explores the relationship between body, memory, violence, and archival imagery through a practice-based artistic methodology grounded in the lived experiences of Iranian women. Drawing from informal and digital archives, including social media images, protest documentation, personal photographs, and circulated visual material, the project examines how images shaped by censorship, instability, and fragmentation can be transformed through material and spatial processes. Instead of treating images as fixed representations, the project approaches them as unstable materials that undergo physical transformation through cyanotype, image transfer, scanning, layering, ceramic processes, and installation. These methods introduce interruption, loss, distortion, and material variation, shifting the image from circulation into tactile and embodied form. A central concern of the research is the ethics of representing violence. Instead of reproducing graphic imagery directly, the project explores alternative strategies of visibility through fragmentation, radiographic imagery, partial transfer, and material mediation. In this way, the work attempts to resist the spectacle of violence while maintaining traces of bodily vulnerability and lived experience. The resulting installation functions as a spatial and material archive in which transparency, layering, suspension, and viewer movement shape how images are encountered. Through these processes, the thesis argues that artistic practice can operate as a form of embodied research, where knowledge emerges through physical engagement with images, materials, and space.
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    Wildflowers in the concrete: the interplay of art, self, parable, and good leadership
    (Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Faculty of Education, 2026) Navratil, Alea C.; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Education; Wood, Kevin; Checkley, Doug
    Good leaders embody the dispositions of care, meaning-seeking, and growth, and promote these dispositions in others. By engaging in cycles of creation, through written narratives and art, then reflecting upon them, this project explores what good leadership is and the essentialness of its practice within the contemporary education system. This project acts as an invitation for other leaders to join in a similar process by creating, and engaging in deep reflection, in service to care, meaning-seeking, growth, and promoting leadership in others. Throughout this project, both the insights into answering and the insights while answering were considered. A heavy focus on effectiveness and efficiency exists within the current education system and leaders need to continue to bring humanity to the forefront of thoughts and practices.