Digital Commons Network^™

Relationship Between Body-Seat Interface Pressure And Discomfort During Rowing, Michael E. Navy

Digitized Theses

Discomfort and pressure-related tissue injury to the buttocks are common complaints among rowers. The soft tissues of the buttocks are non-uniformly loaded during rowing. The current state of literature on seating discomfort is inconclusive as to a desirable body-seat interface pressure pattern. The purpose of this study was to determine whether localising pressure under bony protuberances or diffusing pressure over soft tissues would result in the least amount of discomfort. Force sensing arrays were used to measure body-seat interface pressures in 11 elite female rowers during rowing. Peak pressure measures were identified and pressure gradients were calculated. Discomfort was quantified …

The Process Of Obtaining And Retaining Employment Among The Vision-Restricted, Chelsea E. Mohler

Digitized Theses

National estimates indicate that only a small percentage of vision-restricted individuals are employed. Identified obstacles to employment include lack of access to assistive technology, inadequate transportation, and negative attitudes of potential employers. A constructivist Grounded Theory methodology was used to gain an in-depth understanding of what people with vision-restrictions, who perceived that they are successfully employed, considered to be fundamental in the search for employment. Three themes emerged from the analysis of their responses: facing and negotiating barriers, the cyclical process of seeking and keeping employment, and settling for second best. As a person with a vision-restriction, I am uniquely …

The Effects Of Banking Regulation On The 2008 Financial Crisis By Hadi, Hadi Davarinia

Digitized Theses

No abstract provided.

Design And Evaluation Of Harmonic Speech Enhancement And Bandwidth Extension, Arvind Venkatasubramanian

Digitized Theses

Improving the quality and intelligibility of speech signals continues to be an important topic in mobile communications and hearing aid applications. This thesis explored the possibilities of improving the quality of corrupted speech by cascading a log Minimum Mean Square Error (logMMSE) noise reduction system with a Harmonic Speech Enhancement (HSE) system. In HSE, an adaptive comb filter is deployed to harmonically filter the useful speech signal and suppress the noisy components to noise floor. A Bandwidth Extension (BWE) algorithm was applied to the enhanced speech for further improvements in speech quality. Performance of this algorithm combination was evaluated using …

Differential Sources And Controls Of Soil Co2 Efflux In A Sugar Maple Forest, Natalia Anna Lecki

Digitized Theses

This study determined controls on snow free season soil CO2 efflux in a sugar maple forest in central Ontario. Soil CO2 efflux data were collected with soil temperature, moisture, nutrient pools and sorption capacity. Soil CO2 efflux ranged from 0.2 to 30 pmol/m2/s. Temperature and moisture explained 49% of the variance (p<0.0001), with carbon pools and sorption capacity explaining an additional 31% (p<0.0001). The forest floor carbon pool was negatively correlated with soil CO2 efflux, indicating it is a net carbon sink to the atmosphere. In contrast, a positive correlation was found between soil CO2 efflux and the carbon-rich Ah horizon, indicating Ah carbon is actively respired, and the carbon-poor Ae horizon with high sorption capacity, indicating Ae serves as a trap for dissolved carbon flowing downslope that is subsequently respired. This finding has implications for managing forests for carbon offsets, because the majority of carbon is respired from older soils underneath the forest floor.

Effect Of Rearing Conditions On The Development, Size And Lipid Accumulation Of The True Armyworm, Pseudaletia Unipuncta (Haworth), Maria Angela Marinas

Digitized Theses

Insects migrate in order to escape deteriorating habitats and colonize new ones. However, long distance flight may utilise resources that would otherwise be allocated to reproduction and it has been postulated that migrants have adaptations to reduce the cost of migration to future reproduction. I determined the suitability of the rearing method used extensively for previous studies on Pseudaletia unipuncta adult moth eco- physiology that is primarily based on artificial diets and environmental conditions to mimic cues of habitat quality. I found that there are significant differences in developmental time, mass and lipid accumulation between insects reared under artificial conditions …

Evidence For The Unique Pathological Classification Of Mutant S0d1-Als, Brian Andrew Keller

Digitized Theses

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [ALS] is a neurological disease characterized by the selective loss of motor neurons [MNs] and death due to respiratory failure usually occurs within 3-5 years of symptom onset. Mutations in the genes encoding TAR DNA binding protein of 43 kDa [TDP-43], fused in sarcoma/translocated in liposarcoma [FUS/TLS] and Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase [SOD1] have all been associated with ALS. Never before has a link been made between the variant of ALS and intraneuronal pathology. This thesis has sought to (1) analyze the immunohistochemical expression of TDP-43, FUS/TLS, SOD1, Rho Guanine nucleotide exchange factor [RGNEF], and 5 other ALS-associated …

Examining Associations Between Infant Negative Emotionality, Maternal Sensitivity, And Attachment In A Longitudinal Sample, Caitlin E. Best

Digitized Theses

This longitudinal study investigated the extent to which infant negative emotionality and maternal sensitivity predicted various aspects of infant-mother attachment. Infant and maternal behaviour was assessed at three time points: infant negative emotionality in the still-face paradigm at 4 months, maternal sensitivity in the home at 10 months, and infant-mother attachment in the Strange Situation at 13 months. Analyses were conducted using categorical and continuous measures of attachment from 62 infant- mother dyads. ANOVAs and hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that maternal sensitivity scores predicted infants’ security of attachment (B/not-B), but not emotionality in the Strange Situation (A1-B2/B3-C2). Infant negative …

Effects Of North American Ginseng On Sexual Behavior In Male Rats, Matthew Joseph Barnes

Digitized Theses

Two North American ginseng extracts were used to test sexual behavior in healthy rats and pre-diabetic rats, with erectile dysfunction, after four weeks of oral administration. Behavioral tests assessed sexual performance while animal tissues were used to examine eNOS and nNOS protein and mRNA in central and peripheral sites known to control erectile function. Results show an improvement in erectile function during copulation in healthy rats with chronic treatment of ethanol extract of NA ginseng but not aqueous extract. In addition, eNOS and nNOS mRNA was increased in penile tissue and nNOS staining was increased in the paraventricular nucleus of …

Exploring The Rural Construction Of Masculinity And Boys’ Engagement With Schooling, Julie Danette Hohner

Digitized Theses

This thesis investigates the construction of masculinities for a group of rural boys in one secondary school in South Western Ontario. It looks specifically at how the construction of gender, specifically masculinity, affects the boys' engagement with schooling. The purpose of this study was to document and develop an awareness into how boys' perceive their own masculinities and how these perceptions influence their engagement with schooling at one particular site. Six grade ten male students participated in semi-structured interviews providing insight into the rural construction of masculinity and its influence on schooling.

The research indicates that male students construct and …

Exploring Public Health Nurse Preceptors ’ Experience Of Learning, Karen Margaret Jenkins

Digitized Theses

Exploring Public Health Nurse Preceptors’ Experience of Learning

The preceptorship model is the leading approach to clinical teaching in undergraduate nursing programs. There is a need for community placements however a lack of preceptors. In preceptor-student relationships experienced nurses learn along with the students. This qualitative study utilized hermeneutic phenomenology to answer the questions: How do public health nurse preceptors experience learning within a preceptor-student relationship? What is the meaning of learning for public health nurse preceptors Seven public health nurse preceptors were recruited from health units in Ontario. Findings from this study reveal the tacit knowledge within experienced nurse …

Indigenous Knowledge, Social Relationships And Health: Community-Based Participatory Research With Anishinabe Youth At Pic River First Nation, Katie Big-Canoe

Digitized Theses

Canada’s First Nations youth endure a disproportionate burden of health inequalities. While patterns of First Nation’s youth health point to distinctly social causes (e.g., lacking social support, violence and addiction), research has not adequately explored how the quality of local social environments influence First Nations youth health. Drawing from 19 in-depth interviews with Anishinabe youth, this community-based project utilized an Indigenous Knowledge framework to explore youth perceptions of health, social relationships, and the ways they interact. This research centred around four main objectives including: 1) understanding how Anishinabe youth define health & well-being; 2) exploring youth perceptions of social relationships; …

Functional Role Of Aldehyde Dehydrogenase-1a1 (Aldh1a1) In Breast Cancer Metastatic Behaviour, Irene Ngai Ki Ma

Digitized Theses

Previous work in our lab indicates “stem-like” breast cancer cells can be identified by an ALDHhlCD44+phenotype and that these cells are significantly more metastatic than ALDHlowCD44‘cells. The purpose of this project was to investigate the functional role of overexpressed human ALDH1A1 in breast cancer behaviour. ALDH1A1 was stably overexpressed in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells and these cells were assessed using functional in vitro assays of metastasis (proliferation, adhesion, migration, colony formation). Despite overexpression of ALDH1A1, no significant differences were observed in malignant cell behaviour between empty vector control and MCF- 7/ALDH1A1 cells. However, it was observed that MCF-7/ALDH1A1 cells …

In Situ High-Pressure Studies Of Hydrogen Storage Materials By Vibrational Spectroscopy, Ang Liu

Digitized Theses

Hydrogen has been considered as the most promising alternative source of energy as the world seeks a replacement for the conventional fossil fuel energy source. However, the storage of hydrogen still poses as a big challenge. As a result, development and investigation of hydrogen storage materials have received increasing attention. Here we report studies of two promising hydrogen storage materials, NaNH2 and NH3BH3, under high pressure by Raman and IR spectroscopy.

First, sodium amide (NaNH2) was investigated at room temperature and pressures up to 15 GPa. Starting with an orthorhombic crystal structure at ambient pressure, sodium amide was found to …

Interspecific Competition Among Juvenile Salmonids: Social Behaviour And Hormone Levels Of Atlantic Salmon And Two Non-Native Trout Species, Jessica Arden Van Zwol

Digitized Theses

Competition with ecologically similar non-native salmonids may hinder efforts to restore Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in Lake Ontario. I examined the competitive effects of juvenile brown trout (S. truttci) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), two non-native competitors, on aggression, dominance, growth, and hormone concentrations of three candidate strains of juvenile Atlantic salmon selected for réintroduction into Lake Ontario. Interspecific competition in semi-natural streams reduced aggression, dominance, and growth of Atlantic salmon, coincident with increasing concentrations of cortisol, a hormone that functions in part in the stress response. An aggression-associated hormone, 11-ketotestosterone, was largely unaffected. Interestingly, the most ecologically similar competitor, …

Medium Access Control Layer Implementation On Field Programmable Gate Array Board For Wireless Networks, Ayman Ramzi Alghamdi

Digitized Theses

Triple play services are playing an important role in modern telecommunications systems. Nowadays, more researchers are engaged in investigating the most efficient approaches to integrate these services at a reduced level of operation costs. Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) boards have been found as the most suitable platform to test new protocols as they offer high levels of flexibility and customization. This thesis focuses on implementing a framework for the Triple Play Time Division Multiple Access (TP-TDMA) protocol using the Xilinx FPGA Virtex-5 board. This flexible framework design offers network systems engineers a reconfigiirable platform for triple-play systems development.

In …

Measurement Of Patient-Reported Outcomes In Surgical Orthopaedics, Kimberly Joy Neufeld

Digitized Theses

We examined the predictive relationship between factors previously shown to relate to patients’ ability to accurately recall past health states and discrepancies between pre- surgical (prospective) and post-surgical (retrospective) ratings of pre-intervention health status.

We used the least squares method of multiple linear regression to construct models that used the absolute and simple differences between pre-surgical and post-surgical ratings of physical health, mental health, function, and quality of life as dependent variables.

Four hundred and eleven patients were included in the analyses. Individually and in combination, the selected factors explained a limited amount of variance in the absolute and simple …

Nanoscale Drug Delivery Vehicles Based On Poly(Ester Amide)S, Gregory J. Zilinskas

Digitized Theses

Poly(ester amide)s (PEA)s offer several properties superior to currently used systems such as fewer acidic degradation products and functional handles for the conjugation of bioactive molecules. Herein, two novel PEA based drug delivery systems were developed and evaluated. The first utilizes PEAs containing pendant carboxylic acid functional groups and was evaluated with respect to its ability to control the release of a model drug, a Rhodamine B derivative. The drug exhibited sustained release without a burst phase, demonstrating the utility of the carboxylic functional handles. A second drug delivery system was prepared utilizing novel polyethylene oxide)-PEA copolymers which formed into …

Perceiving Cosmopolitanism: A Critical Schema Of The Initial Moment Of Cross-Cultural Perception, Hart J. Walker

Digitized Theses

The main purpose of this work is to provide a critique of Kwame Anthony Appiah's liberal cosmopolitan theory. To do this I will be providing a theoretical account of the initial moment of cross-cultural perception, that instant in which one perceives another as one who is from a cultural background other than one's own. This account will be constructed using concepts taken from and inspired by the work Georg Simmel and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. The purpose of the critique is to illustrate one of the major shortcomings of Appiah's theory, which is that it does not take into account any research …

Plato’S Use Of Attic Oratory, Ashley Erika Skinner

Digitized Theses

The philosophical works o f Plato are characterized by the Socratic dialogue, the dialectical style o f conversation Socrates employs with his interlocutors. However, Plato also occasionally departs from the Socratic dialogue to experiment in genres outside his, own. The Menexenus and the Apology are two o f his works that feature ‘inserted’ genres /o f Attic oratory: the funeral oration and forensic oratory. While these two works are typically characterized as Plato parodying or criticizing oratory, this thesis examines philosophy and oratory in both the Menexenus and the Apology and argues that Plato deliberately uses Attic oratory to communicate …

Point Counting On Genus 2 Curves, Javad Nazari Doliskani

Digitized Theses

For cryptographic purposes, counting points on the jacobian variety of a given hyperelliptic curve is of great importance. There has been several approaches to obtain the cardinality of such a group, specially for hyperelliptic curves of genus 2. The best known algorithm for counting points on genus 2 curves over prime fields of large characteristic is a variant of Schoof’s genus 1 algorithm. Following a recent work of Gaudry and Schost, we show how to speed up the current state of the art genus 2 point counting algorithm by proposing various computational improvements to its basic arithmetical ingredients.

Pathways For Women’S Information Levels Regarding Prenatal And Postnatal Health And Postpartum Depression, Sabrina M. Youash

Digitized Theses

Seeking healthcare information can increase an individual’s health knowledge and improve self-care capabilities. Despite recognition that information may influence health behaviours, there is limited research on the explicit relationship between acquired pre- and postnatal health information levels and postpartum depression (PPD). Data for primiparous and multiparous subjects were analyzed from the 2006 Maternity Experiences Survey developed by Statistics Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada. The first objective examines pathways of women’s pre- and postnatal health information levels. The second objective assesses the influence of information levels on PPD development. A Multiple-Indicator Multiple- Cause (MIMIC) model was designed with …

Resilience In The Face Of Adversity: Women Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Violence And Homelessness, Holly S. Wallace

Digitized Theses

Every year, thousands of Canadian women make a decision to leave a situation of intimate partner violence (IPV). For many, this decision begins a tortuous path toward homelessness. Resilience is a process, trait, and outcome that involves overcoming adversity and developing unique strengths through its process. For women who have experienced the adversity of IPV and homelessness, evidence of resilience is profoundly apparent in their stories. This paper explores the evidence of resilience as experienced by seven Canadian women, the barriers they experienced to development of resilience, and the qualities of interventions deemed effective to promoting their personal resilience.

Studies Into The Mechanisms Underlying The Cardiac Anti- Hypertrophic And Anti-Remodelling Effects Of Ginseng, Melissa Yen Yen Moey

Digitized Theses

Ginseng is a widely prescribed herbal drug that has been used for over 2000 years in Asia for the treatment of several different disorders of the body including those of the cardiovascular system. Advances in ginseng research have identified the bioactive constituents considered responsible for eliciting its pharmacological effects known as ‘ginsenosides’. Several published reports have demonstrated the potential ability of ginseng and their isolated ginsenosides in the prevention and treatment of heart disease. In the study presented here the effects of ginseng on agonist-induced cardiac hypertrophy in isolated cardiomyocytes (Chapter 2 - 4) as well as an in vivo …

The Effect Of Word Length, Oral-Motor Movement, Articulation, And Lexicality On Gait And Balance, Krista Davie

Digitized Theses

Performing two tasks in dual-task situations is a requirement in activities of daily living. An inability to dual-task is demonstrated generally by diminished performance on one or both of the tasks. Performing a verbal task can produce a reduced ability to perform a gait task and to maintain balance. Impairment on either of these postural tasks can increase the likelihood of falling, particularly among older adults. Dual-task interference has been demonstrated to be significantly impacted by a number of characteristics of secondary verbal tasks (including dimensions of both motoric and cognitive complexity]. Previous studies have not, however, exerted sufficient control …

The Formation Of Small-Scale Glacial Flutes: A Case Study Of The Castle Creek Forefield, Cariboo Mountains, Bc, Emma M. Reid

Digitized Theses

The forefield of Castle Creek in the Caribou Mountains of B.C. contains abundant well developed small-scale glacial landforms. Detailed maps of flutes and annual moraines were produced from aerial photography and selected flutes were mapped in the field, together with sedimentological and fabric analyses. The results revealed a number of flutes with differing morphologies; long parallel-sided flutes and shorter tapering flutes, which become shorter and narrower with distance down flute, exist in different areas of the forefield. In addition there are flutes with bedrock ridges at their ice proximal ends, which appear similar to crag and tail features. Grain size …

The Influence Of North American Ginseng On The Initiation And Progression Of Atherosclerosis, Colin Patrick Carruthers

Digitized Theses

Atherosclerosis is a major cause of cardiovascular morbidity and can lead to complications such as stroke and myocardial infarction. Ginseng, a natural health supplement, has been shown to have anti-atherogenic properties, including attenuating inflammation, oxidation and hyperlipidemia. I examined the effects of North American ginseng on inflammation-associated VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 expression in cultured porcine endothelial cells and monocyte adhesion to the activated endothelium in hypercholesterolemic and hyperhomocysteinemic rats. No definitive downregulation of inflammatory VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 expression was observed in vitro and only an aqueous ginseng extract was effective in reducing homocysteine-induced monocyte adhesion to the aortic endothelium. I also …

The Porcine Radial Artery Smooth Muscle Cell As A Valve Interstitial Cell Surrogate For Heart Valve Tissue Engineering, Jennifer Nicole Redwood

Digitized Theses

Heart valve tissue engineering (HVTE) has the capacity to overcome limitations in current valve design, enabling the creation of an autologous valve replacement. We propose that treating radial artery cells (RACs) with a combination of growth factors (GFs) may produce cells more similar to valve interstitial cells (VICs) for HVTE. RACs were treated with combinations of epidermal GF (E), basic fibroblast GF (F), platelet-derived GF (P), and transforming GF-beta 1 (T). Alpha smooth muscle actin (aSMA) expression was examined using real time polymerase chain reaction and confocal microscopy. A reduction in aSMA expression indicated cell transdifferentiation. A combination of E, …

Vaginal Biopolitics, Sara Rodrigues

Digitized Theses

Vaginal Biopolitics considers the relationship between biopower and the vulva

and vagina. Although feminist scholars have theorized reproduction through the lens of biopolitics and examined vaginas in some instances, there remains an absence of analyses that explore the relationship between biopower and female genitalia. This absence is interesting given that the female genitalia are a rich site for such an inquiry: female genitalia firmly straddle the boundary between the erotic body and the reproductive body and it is in this sense that they become biopolitical. The intervention of biopower produces the vulva and vagina as that which can be made …

The Study Of Sigma Factors O5816 And C7615 In Bacillus Cereus, Ryan Daniel Lum-Tai

Digitized Theses

The Gram-positive and ubiquitous bacterium Bacillus cereus is an emerging human and animal pathogen, and is capable of adapting to numerous extracellular stresses such as the low pH environment of the gastrointestinal tract. One mechanism B. cereus might utilize to regulate the acid-tolerance response system is through alternative sigma factors: proteins that bind and direct RNA polymerase to promoter- specific genes. A previous study found that alternative sigma factors c5816 and o7615 were induced dramatically at low pH, but it was unclear whether these sigma factors mediated an acid-tolerance response. Here, molecular tools were developed to further study these a …