Digital Commons Network^™

Disaster As A Framework For Social Change: Searching For New Patterns Across Plant Ecology And Online Networks, Christina Battle

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation looks to disaster as a framework for enhancing community and the ways in which small gestures of artistic practice might be utilized for change. Embracing the complexity of disaster, the dissertation weaves linkages across a number of disciplines: disaster studies, climate science, contemporary art, internet studies, and plant ecology, in order to seek out potential tactics. Utilizing artistic strategies, especially an embrace of failure as part of methodology, this dissertation accepts the contradictions of such complexity, asserting that following patterns of overlap is a necessary tactic for approaching emergent and speculative futures. The overall project takes cues from …

An Analysis Of Social Media Use Within And Outside Of College English Classes In China, Yuze Gao

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This case study explored how teachers and students use social media for English teaching and learning purposes within and outside of the College English classes in China. The theories of multiliteracies, new media literacies, and connectivism learning theory provided the theoretical underpinnings for this study. Data sources included classroom observations and semi-structured interviews with one teacher participant and 12 student participants in a university in China.Findings show that the teacher and students used various social media tools in multiple ways to facilitate English teaching and learning within and outside of the College English classes. Findings also reveal that although students …

The Leucine-Rich Domain Of Rgnef: A Modifier Of Tdp-43 Toxicity In Drosophila Melanogaster., Benjamin Martin Withers

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Abstract

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the progressive degeneration of motor neurons. Rho Guanine Nucleotide Exchange factor (RGNEF) like other RNA-binding proteins, has been observed to form inclusions in the spinal cord motor neurons of both sporadic and familial cases of ALS. RGNEF has been determined to be a pro-survival factor under stress conditions. When comparing expression of different constructs of RGNEF in HEK293T cells, a Leucine-rich domain containing fragment of RGNEF (L-Rich) was found to form aggregates under metabolic stress that co-aggregated with TDP-43, another ALS-linked RNA-binding protein.

In this thesis, I used both …

The Role Of H3k4 Methyltransferases In Drosophila Memory, Nicholas Raun

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Gene transcription required for long-term memory requires the modification of histones. However, there are still many uncertainties about the identity and spatial expression of genes regulated by histone modifications during memory related processes. In this project I examined the role of Drosophila melanogaster methyltransferases Set1 and trx in courtship memory. Genetic knockdown of Set1 and trx in the mushroom body (MB) revealed that Set1 was necessary for short- and long-term memory, while trx was only required for long-term memory. Transcriptional profiling of MBs following trx-knockdown revealed expression changes in MB-enriched genes and genes involved in RNA processing. Among the …

Investigating The Role Of Tp53inp1 And Tp53inp2 In Neuronal Autophagy And Mitophagy, Vidhyasree Shyam

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Autophagy is highly conserved cellular process that functions in ensuring the turnover of proteins and organelles in a number of different cell types. Mitophagy is a selective form of autophagy which serves to target and rid the cell of damaged or superfluous mitochondria. The process is central to preventing the accumulation of defective mitochondria and is particularly important in neurons, which rely exclusively on mitochondria to sustain their immense metabolic needs. Dysregulation of autophagy is believed to contribute to the neurodegeneration seen in such disorders as Parkinson’s disease and cerebral ischemia. However, further understanding of the role of neuronal autophagy …

Bouncing Dynamics Of A Class Of Mem/Nem Switching Systems, Mohamed Bognash

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The aim of the present research is to understand the bouncing dynamic behavior of NEM/MEM switches in order to improve the switch performance and reliability. It is well known that the bouncing can dramatically degrade the switch performance and life; hence, in the present study, bouncing dynamics of a cantilever-based NME/MEM switch has been studied in detail. To this end, a model of a MEM switch that incorporates electrostatic force, squeeze film air damping force as well as asperity-based contact force has been proposed for an electrostatically actuated switch. An actuation force due to piezoelectric effects is further included in …

Modelling Clinical Decision-Making Referral Patterns To Home-Based Or Hospital-Based Stroke Outpatient Rehabilitation Programs In London, Ontario: A Prognostic Model Development Study, Jerome Iruthayarajah

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The rehabilitation of stroke survivors is an ongoing process for months to years after the injury. Parkwood Institute in London, Ontario is an example of a model outpatient program recommended by the Canadian Stroke Best Practice Recommendations, as patients have access to hospital-based outpatient rehabilitation (Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation Program (CORP)) and home-based rehabilitation (Community Stroke Rehabilitation Teams (CSRT)). However, the decision to refer to either outpatient service is ad hoc. This thesis explores if referrals to CORP or CSRT can be modelled through the development of a prognostic model. The model found that patients who have a higher number of …

Protein Conformations In The Gas Phase Probed By Mass Spectrometry And Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Maryam Bakhtiari

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Mass Spectrometry (MS) has been revolutionized by the ability to produce intact gaseous protein ions by electrospray ionization (ESI). The question to what extent these ions retain solution-like conformations under “native” ESI conditions remains a matter of debate. Traditional high-resolution structure determination techniques only report on proteins in the condensed phase. For this reason, MD simulations play an important role in exploring the behavior of gas phase proteins. In this research, mobile and non-mobile proton MD simulations along with mass spectrometry data at 300 K in both positive and negative ion mode indicated that native-like conformations were largely retained. Surface …

Heat Of Hydration Thermal Performance And Flexural Capacity Of Stainless-Steel Reinforced Concrete Sections, Mokhtar Khalifa

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Stainless steel (SS) is increasingly used in the construction field due to its high strength and corrosion resistance. However, its coefficient of thermal expansion is different from that of concrete. This difference raises concerns about the potential for concrete cracking during the hydration process. To address this concern, a thermal-structural finite element model was developed to predict the stresses in SS reinforced concrete (RC) sections during the hydration process. Different curing regimes were taken into consideration. The analysis was performed in two stages. First, a transient thermal analysis was performed to determine the temperature distribution within the concrete section as …

Apply Dry Powder On Drug Loading And Enteric Coating Of Esomeprazole Magnesium Trihydrate Beads And Capsules, Xiaojing Ge

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Esomeprazole magnesium tri-hydrate (EMT) is a proton pump inhibitor, used for the treatment of gastric and duodenum ulcers. It is currently the best choice for the treatment of acid-related diseases, but it is extremely unstable in gastric acid and sensitive to wet, heat, light. It also will react with the enteric coating material used in this study. So enteric coating and sub coating is needed.

This study offers a new approach, dry powder coating technology, to achieve drug loading and enteric coating of EMT beads and capsules. Dry powder coating, a new type of solvent-less coating technology, can address most …

Everywhere, Animals Appear: Species, Race, And The State In Literature From The Raj To Global India, Jason Sandhar

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In recent decades, postcolonial writers and critics have started attending to representations of animals in literature from the global south (e.g. Armstrong 2002; Huggan and Tiffin 2010). While the turn toward literary animals has been acknowledged for its potential to complicate how colonial violence dehumanized colonized groups, scholars such as Lucille Desblache have pointed out that animals can also go “unseen” or “unheard” in the service of human narratives about emancipation from colonial dominance if they are treated as allegories for the emancipatory process (Desblache 2016). Critical animal studies, meanwhile, has extensively critiqued how liberal humanism in the West has …