Introduction: Unhealthy diets are significant contributors to chronic diseases. Variations in CVD rates across ethnicities in Canada could be attributable to diverse dietary habits and nutrition environmental influences. The extent to which individuals’ food environment perceptions influence dietary intake is also understudied. Methods: This cross-sectional study, utilizing data from 7,077 of the 10,100 adults in the Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds (CAHHM) cohort, assessed associations of elements of the nutrition environment (food prices, advertisements, and availability) and ethnicity with dietary intakes. Results: Self-reported intakes of carbohydrates, junk foods, meat, and cholesterol varied significantly across Asians and White Europeans (p<0.0001). Rural/urban differences were also observed in carbohydrate, fat, protein, cholesterol, vegetable, meat, and sweet drink intakes (p<0.0001), excluding junk foods, and fruits. Interestingly, while individuals' perceptions of their food environment did not correlate with objective measures of the same environment, a 1$ increase in vegetable prices was significantly associated with a decrease in vegetable consumption by 0.0078 In(servings/day) (p= 0.0233), after adjusting for rural/urban living, ethnicity and BMI. No associations were found between fruits, meat, bread, eggs, cola, chocolate, poultry, rice, and milk prices and respective intakes. No association was also found between fruit/vegetable availability and consumption; nor between junk foods, sweet drinks and fruit/vegetable ads and consumption. Notably, alcohol advertisement was associated with alcohol intake. Discussion/Conclusion: The price-inelastic nature of foods like milk and eggs due to their perceived essentiality, implies the superimposing effects of other factors on consumption aside, price. While food advertisements undoubtedly impact eating behaviours, their influence might be subtle considering factors like price which could pose barriers to healthy eating. These findings emphasize the intricate interplay between prices, availability, advertisement, and other factors and dietary choices. Policymakers, food industries, and health advocates can leverage these insights to create healthier food environments for improved health. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Unhealthy diets are significant contributors to chronic diseases. Diverse influences from the nutrition environment also impact consumption. To better inform public health strategies promoting healthy eating, it is imperative to ascertain whether modifying the food environment of individuals would be more effective in transforming their eating behaviours. This cross-sectional study, utilizing data from 7,077 adults from the CAHHM cohort, assessed the influence of elements of the nutrition environment and ethnicity on dietary intake. Differences in carbohydrate, junk food, meat, and cholesterol intake were found among Asians and White Europeans. Carbohydrate, fat, protein, vegetable, meat, and sweet drink intakes varied between rural and urban settings. Increased vegetable prices were associated with reduced consumption, while food advertisements were not associated with dietary intake. This study shows that the costs of healthy foods impact dietary choices more than advertisements. Policymakers can utilize these findings to promote healthy food environments in Canada.

Vibrio cholerae, a natural inhabitant of the marine environment, is capable of evolving from a strictly environmental to a pathogenic lifestyle. Upon this transition, the bacterium may cause the severe diarrheal disease cholera. To cause disease, ingested V. cholerae must survive a number of host defenses. Similarly, within the marine, V. cholerae is subject to various ecological pressures; these pressures may prompt the bacterium to develop adaptations that increase their survival in the environment as well as in response to host defenses. In the marine, V. cholerae can be found in different fractions: in sediment, in association with cyanobacteria, or in water. It is possible that different pressures found in each of these fractions may lead to specific host-associated phenotypes that increase the potential of V. cholerae to emerge as a pathogen. V. cholerae that do evolve into pathogens comprise a phylogenetically confined subset within the species that encode allelic variations of core genes, such as ompU, that confer virulence adaptations. In this study, we examined whether environmental V. cholerae isolated from different marine fractions exhibit distinct host-associated phenotypes and encode virulence associated alleles. We found that V. cholerae we isolated from different marine fractions did not show differences among the host-associated phenotypes tested, nor did fraction appear to select for and enrich a given virulence associated allele. Nevertheless, this study provides insight on the role of environmental conditions on the pathogenic potential of environmental V. cholerae.

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This study was designed to describe the experiences of general education students in elementary settings where the inclusion of students with disabilities was responsibly implemented. The research question investigated was: Do general education students have a meaningful opportunity to learn when sharing classrooms with students with disabilities? The participants in this study were assigned to two inclusion classrooms in an elementary school in northeastern North Carolina. The classrooms were observed during the months of January and February, 1999. Effective educational practices in inclusion classrooms were researched. Data were also collected and analyzed in four areas: (1) principal and teachers' definitions of inclusion, (2) principal and teachers' perceptions of how inclusion is implemented in the school, (3) effects of inclusion on teachers' instructional practices, and (4) effects of inclusion on the learning opportunities for general education students. There were no observable effects of inclusion on the learning opportunities for general education students. / Ed. D.