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The Influence Of Concurrent Visual Feedback During Treadmill Training In Parkinson’S Disease, Rose Ellen Johnston

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Walking is an exercise that has been thought to benefit Parkinson’s disease (PD). In a laboratory setting treadmills have been employed to successfully improve certain aspects of gait in PD (Cakit et al., 2007, Fisher et al., 2008, Herman et al., 2007, Miyai et al., 2000, Miyai et al., 2002, Pohl et al., 2003). Research has also indicated that walking with visual cues can improve aspects of gait that are impaired in PD (Azulay et al., 1999, Bagely et al., 1997, Nieuwboer et al., 2007), however, the integration of visual cues and treadmill training has yet to be studied. Thus, …

Inference, Orthology, And Inundation: Addressing Current Challenges In The Field Of Metagenomics, Gregory Detlev Alexander Vey

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The vast increase in the number of sequenced genomes has irreversibly changed the landscape of the biological sciences and has spawned the current post-genomic era of research. Genomic data have illuminated many adaptation and survival strategies between species and their habitats. Moreover, the analysis of prokaryotic genomic sequences is indispensible for understanding the mechanisms of bacterial pathogens and for subsequently developing effective diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines. Computational strategies for the annotation of genomic sequences are driven by the inference of function from reference genomes. However, the effectiveness of such methods is bounded by the fractional diversity of known genomes. Although …

Mechanism(S) Of 3-Trifluoromethyl-4-Nitrophenol (Tfm) Toxicity In Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon Marinus) & Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss), Oana Birceanu

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The pesticide, 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM), has been extensively used over the last 50 years to control invasive sea lamprey (P. marinus) populations in the Great Lakes, but its mechanism of toxicity is unresolved. Due to its structural similarity to phenolic compounds known to inhibit mitochondrial ATP production, one hypothesis on the mode of action of TFM is that it impairs mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. A second hypothesis is that TFM targets the gill, interfering with gill ion uptake. Exposure of larval sea lamprey and rainbow trout (O. mykiss), to each animal’s respective 12-h TFM LC50, resulted in marked …

A Study Of The Waterborne And Dietary Toxicityof Cadmium To Hydra Attenuata And Daphnia Plux In Soft Waters And The Development Of Biotic Ligand Models To Predict Such Toxicity, Matthew S.A. Clifford

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The goal of this thesis was to compare the effects of waterborne Cd exposures and dietary Cd exposures to Hydra attenuata. Before the Hydra could be exposed to dietborne exposures of Cd, the effects of waterborne exposures had to be understood. This was done by looking at the sensitivity of D. pulex to Cd and then understanding the accumulation of Cd. After bioaccumulation patterns of Cd. to D. pulex were known, we could then feed the prey to the Hydra and comapre the effects to waterborne effects of Cd to Hydra.

To understand the waterborne effects of Cd to …

Using Chemical, Optical And Biological Methods To Characterize Cu Complexation By Different Natural Organic Matter Sources Collected From Canadian Shield Waters, Keegan Andrew Hicks

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The effects of natural organic matter (NOM) source on Cu complexation were characterized chemically, optically and biologically in soft waters. NOM from different Canadian Shield soft water lakes were concentrated using reverse osmosis and for comparison NOM was also sampled from a hard water source. NOM complexation capacity was assessed directly in Cu spiked solutions (with and without additions of NOM) by measuring free Cu activity using an ion selective electrode. Additional chemical and optical characterizations of NOM included specific absorbance coefficient (SAC; at 340 nm), excitation-emission matrix spectroscopy, protein content, and molecular weight fractionation (fraction of DOCkDa). The biological …

Population Density, Circulating Testosterone And Dawn Chorus Behaviour In White-Throated Sparrows (Zonotrichia Albicollis), Simon Richard Hall

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

An integrative approach to biological research has facilitated the study not only of specific phenomena, but of the connections between these phenomena. A particularly striking example is that of the relationships between testosterone, social behavior, and social context. Increased levels of testosterone increase the frequency of aggressive behaviors and reduce the quality of parental care in many songbird species, and these changes in behavior can affect the surrounding social environment. Different social contexts, population density as a readily studied example, affect the cues that control the release of testosterone into the bloodstream. The distinct tan-stripe and white-stripe phenotypic morphs of …

Evolution And Systematic Significance Of Reproductive Structures In The Genus Cuscuta (Dodders, Convolvulaceae): Pollen And Gynoecium, Mark Welsh

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The genus Cuscuta (dodders, Convolvulaceae) is one of the most significant lineages of parasitic plants from economic, conservation, and anthropogenic perspectives. Members of the genus are twining stem parasites with no roots, lacking almost completely chlorophyll or its function, and gather required nutrition from their host via specialized haustorial connections. While there are almost 200 described species, problems with species identification exist because many diagnostic characters are restricted to their tiny flowers. Probably contributing to this identification difficulty is the fact that the group has not received taxonomic attention for over 75 years; even knowledge of its basic reproductive biology …

Effects And Mechanisms Of Female Sex Hormone Influence On Skeletal Muscle Inflammation, Sobia Iqbal

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Previous work from our laboratory has demonstrated that estrogen will attenuate leukocyte infiltration into skeletal muscle following eccentric exercise. However the mechanisms by which estrogen exerts its effects are still uncertain. In experiment one, we investigated the role of estrogen receptor (ER) influence on muscle leukocyte infiltration following eccentric exercise through administration of the ER antagonist ICI 182,780 following downhill running in ovariectomized female rats with (E+) or without (E-) estrogen supplementation. At 24 hours post-exercise, soleus and white vastus muscles were removed and immunostained for HIS48 (neutrophil) and EDI (macrophage) positive cells. The increase in number of fibres positive …

Non-Preferred Limb Performance Following Prolonged Training Periods: Performance And Retention Of Skills, Matthew Thomas Mayer

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of the current study was to examine if a long-term training program could improve non-preferred limb performance on a battery of standard tasks (Annett Pegboard, Grooved Pegboard Place and Remove Phase) and non-standard tasks (Scroll Task and Line-crossing Task). Upon completion of the training sessions, two new tasks were introduced, Finger Tapping and Fitt’s Law Task, to examine if any performance improvements could be transferred. A second purpose of the study was to learn if a training program could increase the perceived comfort in using the non-preferred hand on the same testing tasks. Participants were assigned to a …

Contributions Of Vision To Gait Improvement And Perceptual Impairment In Parkinson’S Disease, Chad A. Lebold

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Exercise Intensity On Exercise Induced Diaphragm Fatigue In Female Subjects, Anthony Errol Aqui

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Exercise induced arterial hypoxemia (EIAH), expiratory flow limitation (EFL) and exercise induced diaphragm fatigue (EIDF) are examples of how the pulmonary system limits endurance exercise. The differences in the female anatomy and hormone fluctuations have been reported to cause differences in the occurrence of EIAH and EFL in males and females. EIDF has been reported to occur in males, but to date no investigations have reported the occurrence of EIDF in females. Therefore the purpose of this study was to determine the occurrence of exercise induced diaphragm fatigue (EIDF) in females identified by significant reductions in transdiaphramatic pressure (P_{di …}

Effects Of Orthotic Intervention During Running Among Individuals With Functional Flatfoot, E. Anne Cunningham

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Foot orthotics are commonly prescribed to runners with functional flatfoot (FFF) with the goal of restoring the medial arch of the foot. In addition, treadmills are typically used by both clinicians and researchers in order to measure the lower extremity kinematics associated with running. However the mechanism of orthotic intervention as well as the accuracy of treadmills in representing overground running remains controversial within the literature.

This thesis first compared the lower extremity kinematics between treadmill and overground running among individuals with a subtalar neutral foot type. The results indicated no significant differences with respect to rate of rearfoot angle, …

Evaluation Of The Effects Of Various Exercise Interventions On Parkinson’S Disease, Michael D. Sage

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The overall purpose of the current thesis was to evaluate the influence of various exercise strategies on Parkinson’s disease (PD). While countless exercise interventions have been investigated by PD, results have been weak and inconclusive at best. As such, there are currently no scientifically-validated recommendations for an optimal exercise intervention. The four studies comprising this thesis have attempted to address the shortcomings of previous literature, namely, inconsistent use of outcome measures, lack of PD symptomatic measures, varying lengths of exercise interventions, absence of a non-exercise control group, continued assessment of participants after exercise has ended, and verifying replicabilty of findings. …

Of Fish And People: Managerial Ecology In Newfoundland And Labrador Cod Fisheries, Dean Louis Yelwa Bavington

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation aims to understand the history of, and possible alternatives to, managerial responses to socio-ecological issues by examining one of the largest natural resource management failures of the twentieth century—the collapse of the Northern cod fisheries off Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. In 1992, the Northern cod fishery off Newfoundland and Labrador (the world's largest ground fishery) was shut down. The Northern cod had been reduced to 1% of their historic spawning biomass and cod fishing as a way of life had come to an end after a 500 year history. The dissertation develops and applies a critical theory of …

Temporal Variability In Nutrient Transport In A First-Order Agricultural Basin In Southern Ontario, Merrin L. Macrae

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis examines phosphorus and nitrate transport in a first-order agricultural catchment in Southern Ontario. Specific areas of concern relate to (1) long- and short-term temporal variability in nutrient export patterns, (2) the role of drainage tiles in annual nutrient export, (3) the effects of antecedent hydrologic conditions (AHC) on nutrient export patterns and (4) temporal variability in the nutrient retention in riparian buffer strips and streams. Temporal variability in hydrochemical export from the study basin over a two-year period is described and quantified and the importance of high magnitude events is highlighted. This is the first comprehensive study to …

The Growth And Distribution Of The Green Alga Cladophora At Presqu'ile Provincial Park: Implications For Management (Ontario), Dolf Craig Dejong

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Green alga genus Caldophora is one of the most abundant kinds of algae worldwide, found in both freshwater and marine environments. It prefers nutrient-rich waters and requires a rocky substrate and water movement for growth. When water temperatures reach 22 to 26 C, the alga dies and washes into shore in large mats. Dead Cladophora produces a terrible odour, reduces property values and can alter the taste of drinking water. At Presqu’ile Provincial Park, maximum Cladophora sloughing occurred July 22 1999, the same time as peak summer park visitation begins. This results in the fouling of the Park’s beaches …

Institutional Arrangements For Cooperative Fisheries Management: A Case Study Of The Newfoundland And Labrador Northern Shrimp Fishery, Bram F. Noble

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The intent of this study is to examine the present institutional arrangements of the Newfoundland and Labrador Northern shrimp fishery, to identify the roles of cooperative fisheries economic development corporations and make recommendations for institutional improvements. There are a number of institutional and organizational arrangements more favorable for fisheries management and development than present ones (Bishop, 1981; Bromley, 1982; McCay and Acheson, 1987; Pinkerton, 1989). Jentoft and McCay (1995) identified the need for this type of research in fisheries management in order to understand the complexity of relationships in fisheries management and to develop more effective means of fisheries management …

Fisheries Co-Management And The Tahltan First Nation: From The Aboriginal Fisheries Strategy To A Treaty Regime (British Columbia), Kristen Lynn Smith

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

For several years now, the Canadian Federal government’s Aboriginal Fisheries Strategy has provided a means for substantial co-management of fisheries resources by First Nations. Unfortunately, there is a widespread lack of understanding of the Aboriginal Fisheries Strategy (AFS) by all interested parties. This study examines the AF S agreement of the Tahltan First Nation of Northwestern British Columbia and other fisheries co-management agreements in place in B.C. It does so by comparing them with the provisions and process of development of comprehensive claim based co- management agreements elsewhere in Canada. It also offers an assessment of aboriginal fisheries co-management arrangements …

The Effect On Feeding And Wheel Running Behaviours Of Housing Rats In Pairs, Roison M. O'Connor

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The effects on feeding of moving animals from individual- to pair-housing were explored in the present three experiments. Wheel access is known to result in a temporary suppression of feeding. The move to pair-housing was compared with the effect of wheel access. In Experiment l, a group of rats was moved from individual to pair-housing (IP group) and compared to a group of individually-housed rats (IND group) and a group of chronically pair-housed rats (PAIR group). The animals in the IP group showed a temporary (three days) suppression in feeding (initially 23%). When half of the IND and PAIR group …

Food Systems: Community-Shared Agriculture, A Means Of Empowerment And Social Vitality, Godwin Samuel Ashiabi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In this thesis I focused on the Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) as an alternative form of farming to industrialized agriculture. CSA connects the growers of food directly with the people who eat it, in a way where everyone shares the benefits and risks involved in agriculture. The Huron Community Garden in Goderich is the setting that was selected for this study because of its five-year history as a form of CSA. A naturalistic participant-observation mode of enquiry was employed. As a participant-observer, I was involved in all activities of the Garden—weeding, tilling of the ground, transplanting of seedlings, watering of …

River Channel Stability And The Implications For Fish Habitat, John T. Beebe

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this project was to investigate various aspects of river channel stability as they relate to fish habitat. Two headwater creeks of the Credit River system, Black and Silver Creeks, and their confluent stream, the West Credit River in Southern Ontario were used in the study. Thirty-five cross-sections were established and revisited during four flow regimes, summer base flow, fall secondary peak flow, spring melt-high flow and post-spring high flow. Measurements of width, depth and temperature were taken at these times. Water samples were taken for determination of suspended sediment concentration. Channel stability was investigated in relation to …

Evidence For Common Coding Of Temporal And Nontemporal Information In Pigeons, Stephen Bridson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Two experiments found evidence that pigeons commonly code temporal and visual samples that are associated with the same comparisons in many-to-one matching. In Experiment 1, pigeons were trained to match temporal (2-sec and 8-sec keylight durations) and color (red and green) samples to line tilt comparisons (vertical and horizontal). Similar rates of forgetting were found for all samples. Furthermore, retention of sample information appeared more similar for samples which shared common comparisons than those that did not. In Experiment 2, pigeons learned new comparison (circle and triangle) associations with either temporal or visual samples from Experiment 1. When tested on …

Irrigation Agriculture In High Mountain Communities The Example Of Hopar Villages, Pakistan, David Aaron Otto Butz

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The interaction of humans with their geophysical environment has been a popular theme in cultural geography. Mountain regions have been common sites for such studies. Pakistan’s Karakoram Ranges, however, have received relatively little attention. Those studies which have been undertaken in the Karakoram are too general to yield credible descriptions or explanations. In addition, many approach human/environment relationships from a superficial environmentalist perspective. Recent efforts by agricultural development agencies to improve conditions in Northern Pakistan have created a sudden interest in the way traditional high-mountain farming communities interact with their geophysical surroundings. Unfortunately, development agencies concentrate on direct causal relationships …

An Analysis Of The Representation Of Memorial Events In Pigeon Short-Term Memory, Sharon Musgrave

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

There is evidence to suggest that pigeons will actively encode information on delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) tasks either by maintaining a representation of the sample stimulus during the retention interval (retrospective processing) or by maintaining a representation of the response decision in anticipation of the upcoming comparison stimuli (prospective processing). The following experiments were conducted to determine whether processing in DMTS is retrospective or prospective in nature. Using a paradigm developed by Stonebraker (1981), pigeons were simultaneously trained on two types of tasks: identity and symbolic matching. Only one set of sample stimuli was used and followed by either the symbolic …

Stimulus Control Exerted By Remember Cues Over Processing In Pigeons’ Short-Term Memory, Patricia E. Hernandez Torres

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The aim of the present research was to provide further evidence regarding the role of remember cues on pigeon short-term memory. The first two experiments were conducted to determine whether, using a single cuing procedure, control over delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) performance could be demonstrated by establishing a no cue condition as an implicit cue to forget. In Experiment 1, subjects were provided with training in a procedure where both forget cue (F) and no cues indicated the omission of the comparison stimuli at the end of the delay interval. In Experiment 2, naive subjects were trained with remember (R) and …

Vegetation Pattern And Disturbance Effects In The Subalpine-Alpine Interface, Valley Of The Ten Peaks, Alberta, Katherine J. Miller

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

There have been several recent calls in the biogeography and vegetation ecology literature to investigate more thoroughly the role of recurrent disturbance or perturbation in the dynamics of subalpine communities, by assessing persistence and change in the dominant species population. In order to study the relationship between conifer regenerative effectiveness, disturbance effects, and the nature of the vegetation pattern, a field study was made of the vegetative cover (composition, abundance, dominance) and its performance (survival, vigour, and reproductive mode) in the upper subalpine zone in the Valley of the Ten Peaks, Banff National Park, Alberta. The occurrence of stresses and …

Pigeon Short-Term Memory: The Effects Of Intertrial Interval Duration And Illumination In A Successive Delayed Matching-To-Sample Procedure, Vic Grossi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The aim of this research was to examine the effects of illumination and intertrial interval duration on pigeon short-term memory, using a successive matching-to-sample procedure. In phrase one the retention interval was manipulated individually for each bird. During the second phase, a correction procedure was implemented in order to reduce the number of responses made to non-match comparison stimuli. In the third phase, the birds were returned to a common baseline, in order to observe what effect elimination of the correction procedure had on the bird’s performance. In the final phase of the research, after achieving stable performance in the …