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The Differentiation Of Smallholder Farming And Household Food Responsibilities In Northern Ghana, Siera Vercillo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

One of the most urgent problems facing sub-Saharan Africa is that many people lack access to safe, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food, particularly in semi-arid regions such as northern Ghana. An important indication of this problem within Ghana is that stunting rates due to prolonged undernourishment are significantly higher in the northern regions than in other parts of the country, despite claims of an overall increase in the availability of food. Broadly, this dissertation employs qualitative case study research in the Northern Region (interviews N=109 and 12 focus groups) to describe the changes in access to resources, roles and …

A Comprehensive Catalog Of Post-Translational Modifications Of Drosophila Melanogaster Hox Protein, Sex Combs Reduced, Anirban Banerjee

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

During formation of the anterior-posterior axis, Homeotic selector (HOX) proteins determine the identity of Drosophila body segments. HOX proteins are transcription factors that regulate gene expression during development. Besides a highly conserved DNA-binding homeodomain (HD), HOX proteins also contain functionally important, evolutionarily conserved small motifs. These short motifs found in HOX proteins may be Short Linear Motifs (SLiMs). SLiMs are proposed to be sites of phosphorylation and this may regulate the activity of HOX proteins. The primary aim of this work was to develop a comprehensive catalogue of the sites of phosphorylation and other post-translational modifications (PTMs) for Fushi tarazu …

Bicuspid Aortic Valve Formation: Nos3 Mutation Leads To Abnormal Lineage Patterning Of Neural Crest Cells And The Second Heart Field, Joshua C. Peterson, Mary Chughtai, Lambertus J. Wisse, Adriana C. Gittenberger-De Groot, Qingping Feng, Marie J.T.H. Goumans, J. Conny Vanmunsteren, Monique R.M. Jongbloed, Marco C. Deruiter

Paediatrics Publications

The bicuspid aortic valve (BAV), a valve with two instead of three aortic leaflets, belongs to the most prevalent congenital heart diseases in the world, occurring in 0.5-2% of the general population. We aimed to understand how changes in early cellular contributions result in BAV formation and impact cardiovascular outflow tract development. Detailed 3D reconstructions, immunohistochemistry and morphometrics determined that, during valvulogenesis, the non-coronary leaflet separates from the parietal outflow tract cushion instead of originating from an intercalated cushion. Nos3−/− mice develop a BAV without a raphe as a result of incomplete separation of the parietal outflow tract cushion into …

Latest Advances In Intervertebral Disc Development And Progenitor Cells, Cheryle A. Séguin, Danny Chan, Chitra L. Dahia, Zulma Gazit

Paediatrics Publications

This paper is a concise review aiming to assemble the most relevant topics presented by the authors at ORS-Philadelphia Spine Research Society Fourth International Spine Research Symposium. It centers on the latest advances in disc development, its main structural entities, and the populating cells, with emphasis on the advances in pivotal molecular pathways responsible for forming the intervertebral discs (IVD). The objective of finding and emphasizing pathways and mechanisms that function to control tissue formation is to identify and to explore modifications occurring during normal aging, disease, and tissue repair. Thus, to comprehend that the cellular and molecular basis of …

The Effects Of Early Adolescent Lipopolysaccharide Or Cat Odour Exposure Followed By Propionic Acid Administration On Anxiety, Startle Response, And Sensorimotor Gating In Adolescence And Adulthood, Deanne Tak On Wah

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are caused by genetic factors and a complex set of risk factors including early stressors and alterations in the gut microbiome. The present thesis investigated whether environmental stressors during early adolescence predisposes rats administered another stressor in later adolescence and adulthood to produce altered anxiety-like behaviours, startle response, and percent prepulse inhibition. The early adolescent stressors used in this study included repeated administration of a bacterial endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or a stressful predator cat odour exposure. In later adolescence and adulthood, rats were administered with a gut microbial by-product, propionic acid (PPA), and subsequently tested on …

Factors Contributing To Preschoolers' Communicative Participation Outcomes: Findings From A Population-Based Longitudinal Cohort Study In Ontario, Canada, Barbara Jane Cunningham, Steven E. Hanna, Peter Rosenbaum, Nancy Thomas-Stonell, Bruce Oddson

PRECISe Preschool Speech and Language Publications

Purpose. To identify predictors of communicative participation outcomes for a large cohort of preschoolers with communication disorders.

Method. A secondary analysis of longitudinal program evaluation data from Ontario Canada’s Preschool Speech and Language Program (PSLP). Data available for 46,872 children 18-67 months of age (M = 41.76 mo, SD = 11.92, 68% male) were previously used to predict children’s communicative participation skill development in five levels of function. Demographic and intervention-based variables were added to the models to identify new predictors of growth.

Results. Three demographic and three intervention-based variables were statistically significant predictors of children’s communicative participation …

Settlement Experiences Of Syrian Refugees, Jennifer Perkins

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Statistics Canada (2017) reports that over 40,000 Syrian refugees have arrived in Canada since November of 2015. This large influx of refugees, some with psychological trauma, poses a great responsibility to service providers to ensure services meet the needs of their new clientele. One service provider in Midsized City, Ontario, which will be referred to as The Resource Center, has taken a new and culturally informed approach to providing service. This center has held multiple “Welcome Neighbour” events across the city to invite newcomers to form a closer community and give them the platform to express their needs as refugees. …

Symbolic And Material Justice: The Case Of Displaced Persons In Chocó, Colombia, Allison Cordoba

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This research examines the causes and impacts of victimization as experienced by rural populations displaced by conflict living in Quibdó, Colombia. It draws upon Bourdieu’s social theory to understand how the distribution of various forms of capital structure the lives of the displaced. A brief history of the conflict in Colombia is presented, which is broken into five periods, from 1946 to 2014 when the fieldwork was conducted. A description of the context of Quibdó and the department it is in, Chocó, is also provided. Particular attention is paid to the role of symbolic, economic, and cultural capital in the …

Mind The Gap: Mapping Skills In Higher Education Project Summary, Melody Viczko Dr, Shannon Mckechnie, Natasja Van Buggenhout, J. Eduardo Álvarez Barrios

Education Publications

The call for reform in higher education has been a focus of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for over a decade. This call for reform is driven by a stated “skills gap” between the skills of graduates and the needs of the labour market. Student groups have also voiced their concern about the skills gap and its impact on future employment.