title: A Survey of hMLH1 mRNA Splicing Profiles in Human Cell Lines: Comparing Primary Cultured Fibroblasts Before and After Oxidative Stress and Transiently versus Stably Demethylated Colon Cancer Derived Cell Lines

subject:
Gene splicing
Disease
Colon cancer

abstract:
Most human genes undergo alternative splicing and loss of splicing fidelity is
associated with disease. Epigenetic silencing of hMLH 1 via promoter cytosine
methylation is causally linked to a subset of sporadic non-polyposis colon cancer and is reversible by 5-aza-2' -deoxycytidine treatment. Here I investigated changes in
hMLHI mRNA splicing profiles in normal fibroblasts and colon cancer-derived
human cell lines. I established the types and frequencies of hMLHI mRNA
transcripts generated under baseline conditions, after hydrogen peroxide induced
oxidative stress, and in acutely 5-aza-2' -deoxycytidine-treated and stably derepressed
cancer cell lines. I found that hMLHI is extensively spliced under all
conditions including baseline (50% splice variants), the splice variant distribution
changes in response to oxidative stress, and certain splice variants are sensitive to 5-
aza-2' -deoxycytidine treatment: Splice variant diversity and frequency of exon 17
skipping correlates with the level of hMLHI promoter methylation suggesting a link
between promoter methylation and mRNA splicing.


title: Undergraduate Students' Experiences of Their Mathematical Identity

contributor: Department of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies in Education

subject:
Mathematics learners
Identity
Competance

abstract:
This research study explored how undergraduate mathematics students perceive
themselves as capable mathematics learners and whether gender differences exist in the
undergraduates students' perceptions. The research was framed by three approaches of
understanding identity: self-efficacy, environment, and four faces of learner's identity. A
mixed methods approach to the study was used where data were collected from
interviews and an online questionnaire. Data analysis revealed that undergraduate
mathematics students' perceptions of their mathematical identity as capable mathematics
learners are influenced by their perceptions of their experiences such as: (a) perceptions
of having previous knowledge of the course, (b) being able teach others and others
understand it, (c) being recognized by their professors, (d) contributing and fitting in, (e)
having opportunities to interact with their peers, and (f) being able to fit in with their
image of a capable mathematics learner.


title: Reflection Reframed: The Process of Photography as Strategy for Teachers' Reflective Practice

subject:
Reflective journal
Photography

abstract:
Teacher reflective practice is described as an effective method for engaging teachers in
improving their own professional learning. Yet, some teachers do not understand how to
effectively engage in the reflective processes, or prefer not to formalize the process
through writing a reflective journal as taught in most teacher education programs.
Developing reflective skills through the process of photography was investigated in this
study as a strategy to allow enhanced teacher reflection for professional and personal
growth. The process of photography is understood as the mindful act of photographing
rather than focusing on the final product-the image. For this study, 3 practicing
educators engaged in photographic exercises as a reflective process. Data sources
included transcribed interviews, participant journal reflections, and sketchbook artifacts,
as well as the researcher's personal journal notes. Findings indicated that, through the
photographic process, (a) teacher participants developed new and individual strategies for
professional leaming; and (b) teacher participants experienced shifts in the way they
conceptualized their personal worldviews.


title: Hot cognition and activation of the medial prefrontal cortex: Self-regulating in contexts involving motivational pressures

subject: Self-regulation Consequences

abstract:
The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is involved in performance-monitoring and
has been implicated in the generation of several electrocortical responses associated with
self-regulation. The error-related negativity (ERN), the inhibitory Nogo N2 (N2), and the
feedback-related negativity (FRN) are event-related potential (ERP) components which
reflect mPFC activity associated with feedback to behavioural (ERN, N2) and
environmental (FRN) consequences. Our main goal was to determine whether or not
rnPFC activation varies as a function of motivational context (e.g., those involving
performance-related incentives) or the use of internally versus externally generated
feedback signals (i.e., errors). Additionally, we assessed medial prefrontal activity in
relation to individual differences in personality and temperament.
Participants completed a combination of tasks in which performance-related incentives were associated with task performance and feedback generated from internal versus external responses. MPFC activity was indexed using both ERP scalp voltage peaks and intracerebral current source density (CSD) of dorsal and ventral regions. Additionally, participants completed several questionnaires assessing personality and temperament styles.
Given previous studies have shown that enhanced mPFC activity to loss (or negative) feedback, we expected that activity in the mPFC would generally be greater during the Loss condition relative to the Win condition for both the ERN and N2. Also,
due to the evidence that the (vmPFC) is engaged in arousing contexts, we hypothesized
that activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) would be greater than activity
in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), especially in the Loss condition of the GoNogo task (ERN). Similarly, loss feedback in the BART (FRN) was expected to engage the vmPFC more than the dmPFC. Finally, we predicted that persons rating themselves as more willing to engage in approach-related behaviours or to exhibit rigid cognitive styles would show reduced activity of the mPFC.
Overall, our results emphasize the role of affective evaluations of behavioural and
environmental consequences when self-regulating. Although there were no effects of
context on brain activity, our data indicate that, during the time of the ERN and N2 on the
MW Go-Nogo task and the FRN on the BART, the vrnPFC was more active compared to
the dmPFC. Moreover, regional recruitment in the mPFC was similar across internally
(ERN) and externally (FRN) generated errors signals associated with loss feedback, as
reflected by relatively greater activity in the vmPFC than the dmPFC.
Our data also suggest that greater activity in the mPFC is associated with better inhibitory control, as reflected by both scalp and CSD measures. Additionally, deactivation of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) and lower levels of self-reported positive affect were both related to increased voluntary risk-taking on the BART. Finally, persons reporting higher levels of approach-related behaviour or cognitive rigidity showed reduced activity of the mPFC.
These results are in line with previous research emphasizing that affect/motivation
is central to the processes reflected by mediofrontal negativities (MFNs), that the vmPFC
is involved in regulating demands on motivational/affective systems, and that the
underlying mechanisms driving these functions vary across both individuals and contexts.


title: The impact of social competence between physical activity and motor performance

subject:
physical activity
motor performance
social competence
PHAST

abstract:
Objective: To identify the association of low physical activity (PA) participation in children with various motor performances (MP) and to establish the impact of social competence (SC).
Methods: Sixth grade children from PHAST study at Brock University (n=1958; 50.53% males) had MP test results from Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Participation Questionnaire (PQ) used for PA and Harter Social Competence Scale for self-perceived SC. Comparative tests, multiple and logistic regressions were performed.
Results: Significant differences in PQ measures in MP quartiles and SCs. MP and SC are independent predictors of PA (p<.05) except with SES on free play activity, making MP not significant. Lower MP increased the odds of low total PA and organized sport participation but not for free play activities (OR~1). Higher SC reduced the risk of low participation in all PA measures.
Conclusions: SC improves PA participation, including free play and organized sports, despite the child’s MP.


title: New Building Blocks for Dual-Property Molecule-Based Magnets

subject:
Chiral magnets
Ferromagnetic conductors
Synthesis
Magnetic susceptibility

abstract:
Two classes of compounds have been prepared and characterized as building blocks for chiral magnets and ferromagnetic conductors. In the fIrst project, the organic framework of a pentadentate, (N302) macro cycle has been synthetically modifIed to introduce phenyl substituents into its organic framework and the synthesis of four new
[Fe(In(N302)(CN)2] complexes (I) - (IV) is presented. [Molecular diagram availble in pdf]   This work represents the fIrst structural and magnetic studies of a family of spin crossover macrocycles that comprise of both structural and stereo-isomers. Magnetic susceptibility and Mossbauer data for the R,R-complex (I) is consistent with both a thermal and a light induced spin crossover transition. The X-ray data supports a change in geometry accompanying the thermal spin transition, from a high spin (HS) 7 -coordinate complex at room temperature to a low spin (LS) 5-coordinate complex at 100 K. The crystal structure ofthe racemic complex (III) reveals a HS, 7-coordinate complex at 200 K that undergoes no signifIcant structural changes on cooling. In contrast, the magnetic - susceptibility and Mossbauer data collected on a powder sample of the racemic complex are consistent with a LS complex. Finally, the meso complex (IV) was prepared and its structure and magnetic properties are consistent with a 5-coordinate LS complex that remains low spin, but undergoes conformational changes on cooling in solution. The chiral [Fe(H)(N302)(CN)2] macro cycle (I), together with its Mn(H) and Fe(H) derivatives have also been exploited as building blocks for the self-assembly of chiral magnets.
In the second project, a synthetic route for the preparation of tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) donors covalently attached to a diisopropyl verdazyl radical via a cross conjugated
pyridyl linker IS presented. Following this strategy, four new TTF-py-
(diisopropyl)verdazyl radicals have been prepared and characterized (V) - (VIII) . [Molecular diagram available in pdf] The first (2:1) charge transfer complex ofa TTF-py-(diisopropyl)verdazyl radical donor and a TCNQ acceptor has been prepared and structurally characterized. The crystal packing shows that the donor and acceptor molecules are organized in a mixed stacking arrangement consistent with its insulating behaviour. EPR and magnetic susceptibility data support intramolecular ferromagnetic interactions between the TTF and the verdazyl radicals and antiferromagnetic interactions between TTF donors within a stack. In an attempt to increase the intramolecular exchange interaction between the two radicals, a TTF-x-(diisopropyl)verdazyl radical (IX) was prepared, where the two radicals are connected ia a conjugated divinylene linker. The neutral radical donors stack in a more favourable head-to-head arrangement but the bulky isopropyl groups prevent the donor radicals from stacking close enough together to facilitate good orbital overlap. [Molecular diagram available in pdf].


title: Investigating Multiple-Choice Assessment: Secondary School Teachers' Perceptions and Practices

subject:
multiple-choice
perceptions
assessment
secondary school

abstract: Multiple-choice assessment is used within nearly all levels of education and is often heavily relied upon within both secondary and postsecondary institutions in determining a student’s present and future success. Understanding why it is effective or ineffective, how it is developed, and when it is or is not used by teachers can further inform teachers’ assessment practices, and subsequently, improve opportunities for student success. Twenty-eight teachers from 3 secondary schools in southern Ontario were interviewed about their perceptions and use of multiple-choice assessment and participated in a single-session introductory workshop on this topic. Perceptions and practices were revealed, discussed, and challenged through the use of a qualitative research method and examined alongside existing multiple-choice research. Discussion centered upon participants’ perspectives prior to and following their participation in the workshop. Implications related to future assessment practices and research in this field of assessment were presented. Findings indicated that many teachers utilized the multiple-choice form of assessment having had very little teacher education coursework or inservice professional development in the use of this format. The findings also revealed that teachers were receptive to training in this area but simply had not been exposed to or been given the opportunity to further develop their understanding. Participants generally agreed on its strengths (e.g., objectivity) and weaknesses (e.g., development difficulty). Participants were particularly interested in the potential for this assessment format to assess different levels of cognitive difficulty (i.e., levels beyond remembering of Bloom’s revised taxonomy), in addition to its potential to perhaps provide equitable means for assessing students of varying cultures, disabilities, and academic streams.


title: Genetic Programming for Non-Photorealistic Rendering

subject: Genetic Programming, NPR, Evolutionary Art

abstract: This thesis focuses on developing an evolutionary art system using genetic programming. The main goal is to produce new forms of evolutionary art that filter existing images into new non-photorealistic (NPR) styles, by obtaining images that look like traditional media such as watercolor or pencil, as well as brand new effects. The approach permits GP to generate creative forms of NPR results. The GP language is extended with different techniques and methods inspired from NPR research such as colour mixing expressions, image processing filters and painting algorithm. Colour mixing is a major new contribution, as it enables many familiar and innovative NPR effects to arise. Another major innovation is that many GP functions process the canvas (rendered image), while is dynamically changing. Automatic fitness scoring uses aesthetic evaluation models and statistical analysis, and multi-objective fitness evaluation is used. Results showed a variety of NPR effects, as well as new, creative possibilities.


title: Prostate Cancer and the Search for Novel Biomarkers

subject: Prostate Cancer, Urine, Biomarkers, microRNA, Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

abstract:
The primary objective of this research project was to identify prostate cancer (PCa) -specific biomarkers from urine. This was done using a multi-faceted approach that targeted (1) the genome (DNA); (2) the transcriptome (mRNA and miRNA); and (3) the proteome. Toward this end, urine samples were collected from ten healthy individuals, eight men with PCa and twelve men with enlarged, non-cancerous prostates or with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). Urine samples were also collected from the same patients (PCa and BPH) as part of a two-year follow-up.
Initially urinary nucleic acids and proteins were assessed both qualitatively and quantitatively for characteristics either unique or common among the groups. Subsequently macromolecules were pooled within each group and assessed for either protein composition via LC-MS/MS or microRNA (miRNA) expression by microarray. A number of potential candidates including miRNAs were identified as being deregulated in either pooled PCa or BPH with respect to the healthy control group.
Candidate biomarkers were then assessed among individual samples to validate their utility in diagnosing PCa and/or differentiating PCa from BPH. A number of potential targets including deregulation of miRNAs 1825 and 484, and mRNAs for Fibronectin and Tumor Protein 53 Inducible Nuclear Protein 2 (TP53INP2) appeared to be indicative of PCa. Furthermore, deregulation of miR-498 appeared to be indicative of BPH. The sensitivities and specificities associated with using deregulation in many of these targets to subsequently predict PCa or BPH were also determined.

This research project has identified a number of potential targets, detectable in urine, which merit further investigation towards the accurate identification of PCa and its discrimination from BPH. The significance of this work is amplified by the non-invasive nature of the sample source from which these candidates were derived, urine. Many cancer biomarker discovery studies have tended to focus primarily on blood (plasma or serum) and/or tissue samples. This is one of the first PCa biomarker studies to focus exclusively on urine as a sample source.


title: Deinstitutionalization and its Effects on Social Inclusion, Choice-Making, Adaptive and Maladaptive Behavior for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities: Case Studies Analysis

subject:
Persons with intellectual disabilities
Deinstitutionalization
Community integration

abstract:
In the past three decades institutions for persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) have
been downsizing and closing in Ontario, Canada. This trend is reflective of the changes that have occurred in society. As of March 2009 the last institution operated by the Ontario
government for persons with ID closed, placing the remaining approximately 1000 persons
into the community.
The current study was an analysis of part of one study in a four-study research project,
called the Facilities Initiative Study, to explore the impact of the closures on the lives of
individuals who have been reintegrated into community settings. The goal of the current case study analysis was to describe the impact of changes in social inclusion, choice-making/autonomy, and adaptive/maladaptive functioning of four individuals prior to and following transition to the community. The results suggested that, in most cases, community integration was related to more social inclusion opportunities and autonomy in choice-making, a wider range of adaptive behaviors and fewer maladaptive behaviors. In some cases, the evidence suggested that some of these indices of quality of life were not improving.
Overall, the study found that the differences observed were unique to each of the
individuals who participated in the case study analysis. Some generalized themes were
generated that can be applied to future deinstitutionalization endeavors.


title: Application of thermal ion-molecule reactions in tackling spectroscopic inferences in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

subject:
Thermal reactions
Plasma mass spectrometry

abstract:
Part I: Ultra-trace determination of vanadium in lake sediments: a performance comparison using O2, N20, and NH3 as reaction gases in ICP-DRC-MS
Thermal ion-molecule reactions, targeting removal of specific spectroscopic interference
problems, have become a powerful tool for method development in quadrupole based inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) applications. A study was conducted to develop an accurate method for the determination of vanadium in lake sediment samples by ICP-MS, coupled with a dynamic reaction cell (DRC), using two differenvchemical resolution strategies: a) direct removal of interfering C10+ and b) vanadium oxidation to VO+. The performance of three reaction gases that are suitable for handling vanadium interference in the dynamic reaction cell was systematically studied and evaluated: ammonia for C10+ removal and oxygen and nitrous oxide for oxidation. Although it was able to produce comparable results for vanadium to those
using oxygen and nitrous oxide, NH3 did not completely eliminate a matrix effect, caused by the presence of chloride, and required large scale dilutions (and a concomitant increase in variance) when the sample and/or the digestion medium contained large amounts of chloride. Among the three candidate reaction gases at their optimized Eonditions, creation of VO+ with oxygen gas delivered the best analyte sensitivity and the lowest detection limit (2.7 ng L-1). Vanadium results obtained from fourteen lake sediment samples and a certified reference material (CRM031-040-1), using two different analytelinterference separation strategies, suggested that the vanadium mono-oxidation offers advantageous performance over the conventional method using NH3 for ultra-trace vanadium determination by ICP-DRC-MS and can be readily employed in relevant
environmental chemistry applications that deal with ultra-trace contaminants.Part II: Validation of a modified oxidation approach for the quantification of total arsenic and selenium in complex environmental matrices Spectroscopic interference problems of arsenic and selenium in ICP-MS practices were investigated in detail. Preliminary literature review suggested that oxygen could serve as an effective candidate reaction gas for analysis of the two elements in dynamic reaction cell coupled ICP-MS. An accurate method was developed for the determination of As and Se in complex
environmental samples, based on a series of modifications on an oxidation approach for As and Se previously reported. Rhodium was used as internal standard in this study to help minimize non-spectral interferences such as instrumental drift. Using an oxygen gas flow slightly higher than 0.5 mL min-I, arsenic is converted to 75 AS160+ ion in an efficient manner whereas a potentially interfering ion, 91Zr+, is completely removed. Instead of using the most abundant Se isotope, 80Se, selenium was determined by a second most abundant isotope, 78Se, in the form of 78Se160. Upon careful selection of oxygen gas flow rate and optimization ofRPq value, previous isobaric threats caused by Zr and Mo were reduced to background levels whereas another potential atomic isobar, 96Ru+, became completely harmless to the new selenium analyte. The new method underwent a strict validation procedure where the recovery of a suitable certified
reference material was examined and the obtained sample data were compared with those produced by a credible external laboratory who analyzed the same set of samples using a standardized HG-ICP-AES method. The validation results were satisfactory. The resultant limits of detection for arsenic and selenium were 5 ng L-1 and 60 ng L-1, respectively.


title: Bringing Zombies Back to Life: An Autoethnographical Exploration of Alienation and Political Dis/Engagement in Emerging Adulthood Within Late-Stage Capitalism

subject:
Political disengagement
Young adult political views
Zombie culture

abstract:
In this thesis, by employing an autoethnographic methodology, I am exploring why
certain understandings, or assemblages, of political engagement come to have greater meaning in my life and why other assemblages may be more hidden and thus fail to contribute substantially to the meaning of political in my life. Using immanent, Marxist and post-Marxist theories, as well as a zombie narrative, the study will contextualize the movement of assemblages in my life within late-stage capitalism which is juxtaposed with the zombie apocalypse. The placement and displacement of certain understandings of the political within my life will be theorized within the crisis of constituent power that is revealed in an immanent framework. Furthermore, the crisis of the constituent in late-stage capitalism creates new forms of radical alienation which will also be examined. By exploring my own struggles in becoming political I will theorize why political disengagement in emerging adulthood appears to be increasing, as well as possibilities for new forms of political engagement in a late-stage capitalist context.


title: Peer-Led Team Learning as an Instructional Strategy for Secondary School Science

subject:
Student-centred learning
Secondary school students
Peer-group tutoring of students

abstract: This study investigated the impact of an instructional learning strategy, peer-led team learning (PLTL), on secondary school students' conceptual understanding of biology concepts related to the topic of evolution. Using a mixed methods approach, data were gathered quantitatively through pre/posttesting using a repeated measures design and qualitatively through observations, questionnaires, and interviews. A repeated measures design was implemented to explore the impact of PLTL on students' understanding of concepts related to evolution and students' attitudes towards PLTL implementation. Results from quantitative data comparing pre/posttesting were not able to be compared through inferential statistics as a result of inconsistencies in the data due to a small sample size and design limitations; however, qualitative data identified positive attitudes towards the implementation of PLTL, with students reporting gains in conceptual understanding, academic achievement, and interdependent work ethic. Implications of these findings for learning, teaching, and the educational literature include understanding of student attitudes towards PLTL and insight into the role PLTL plays in improving conceptual understanding of biology concepts. Strategies are suggested to continue further research in the area of PLTL.


title: Community Recreation and Leisure Activities in Adults with Developmental Disabilities who have Recently Relocated to Community-based Residences in Ontario

subject:
People with developmental disabilities
Recreation and leisure activities
Community-based residences

abstract:
In 2009, the Ontario Government closed the last three remaining large-scale institutions
for people with Developmental Disabilities (DD). The purpose of this study is to
examine the community-based recreation and leisure activities of 87 adults with DD who
have recently moved into the community. Study 1 provided a descriptive insight into the
community recreation and leisure activities, and revealed that people with DD engage in
low levels of community activities, however are reported to have the desire to engage
more often. Staff reported that people with DD do not have the opportunities to engage
in their preferable activities. Study 2 investigated the prbspective predictors of the
number and frequency of community, recreation and leisure activities and found that a
higher level of functioning predicted a greater number of community activities ([beta] = .26, P < .05), while both a higher level of functioning ([beta] = .38,p < .001) and greater preference ([beta] = .23. p < .05) predicted more frequent access to community activities. Future research and the implications of the findings for clinical practice and policy development were discussed.


title: Functional genomics of BAHD acyltransferases in different varieties of the wine grape, Vilis vinifera

subject:
Wine aroma
Grape breeding

abstract: The characteristic "foxy" aroma of Vilis labrusca Concord grapes is due in large part to methyl anthranilate, a volatile ester formed by the enzyme anthraniloyl- CoA:methanol anthraniloyltransferase (VIAMAT) of the superfamily of BARD acyltransferases. The publication of the genome ofthe closely related wine grape Vilis vinifera, which does not accumulate methyl anthranilate, permitted the searching for any putative VlAU4T-like genes, with the result of 5 highly homologous candidates being found, with one candidate sharing 95% identity to VlAU4T. Probing the gene expression of 18 different cultivars of V. vinifora ripe berries by RT -PCR showed that many varieties do indeed express VlAU4T-like genes. Subsequent cloning of the full-length open reading frame of one of these genes from eDNA prepared from the cultivar Sauvignon Blanc permitted preliminary biochemical characterization of the enzyme after heterologous expression in E. coli. It was determined that this alcohol acyltransferase (named VvsbAATl) catalyzes the formation of cis-3-hexenyl acetate, a "green-leaf' volatile. Although the cloned gene from Sauvignon Blanc had 95% identity at the amino acid level to VIAMAT, it displayed an altered substrate specificity and expression pattern. These results highlight the difficulty in predicting substrate specificity and function of enzymes through the basis of sequence homology, which is a common finding in the study of BARD acyltransferases. Also, the determination of function of VvsbAATl and other BARD acyltransferases in V. vinifera could be used as a genetic marker for certain aroma characteristics in grape breeding programs.


title: The Influence of Arousal on Moral Decision-making for Individuals with and without Mild Head Injury

subject:
Brain injury
Moral dilemmas
Decision-making

abstract:
Recent research has shown that University students with a history of self-reported mild
head injury (MHI) are more willing to endorse moral transgressions associated with personal, relative to impersonal, dilemmas (Chiappetta & Good, 2008). However, the terms 'personal' and 'impersonal' in these dilemmas have functionally confounded the 'intentionality' of the transgression with the 'personal impact' or 'outcome' of the transgression. In this study we used a modified version of these moral dilemmas to investigate decision-making and sympathetic nervous system responsivity. Forty-eight University students (24 with MHI, 24 with no-MHI) read 24 scenarios depicting moral dilemmas varying as a function of 'intentionality' of the act (deliberate or unintentional) and its 'outcome' (physical harm, no physical harm, non-moral) and were required to rate their willingness to engage in the act. Physiological indices of arousal (e.g., heart rate - HR) were recorded throughout. Additionally, participants completed several neurocognitive tests. Results indicated significantly lowered HR activity at baseline, prior to, and during (but not after) making a decision for each type of dilemma for participants with MHI compared to their non-injured cohort. Further, they were more likely than their cohort to authorize personal injuries that were deliberately induced. MHI history was also associated with better performance on tasks of cognitive flexibility and attention; while students' complaints of postconcussive symptoms and their social problem solving abilities did not differ as a function of MHI history. The results provide subtle support for the hypothesis that both emotional and cognitive information guide moral decision making in ambiguous and emotionally distressing situations. Persons with even a MHI have diminished physiological arousal that may reflect disruption to the neural pathways of the VMPFC/OFC similar to those with more severe injuries.


title: The neoliberalization of street vending policy in Lima, Peru: the politics of citizenship. property and public space in the production of a new urban marginality

subject:
Lima, Peru
Neoliberalism
Urban poor
Street vendors

abstract: Neoliberalism is having a significant and global impact on political, social and economic life across spaces. This work illustrates how neoliberalism is attempting to change the ways in which the urban poor - particularly those that participate in street vending - use urban spaces in Lima, Peru. Using municipal policies, newspaper articles and local academic texts I argue that there is a changing marginality in Lima that is being experienced by street vendors, and currently in los canas of Lima. In particular, I discuss formalization, a neoliberal strategy in street vending policy, which is used with eradication and social assistance strategies in attempts to re-regulate street vendors.


title: Closing the Summer Learning Gap for Vulnerable Children: An Examination of a Summer Family Literacy Program for Junior Kindergarten Children At-Risk for Reading Difficulties

subject:
Student achievement
Summer learning gap
Disadvantaged children

abstract:
The learning gap created by summer vacation creates a significant breach in the learning
cycle, where student achievement levels decrease over the course ofthe summer (Cooper et aI., 2000). In a review of 39 studies, Cooper and colleagues (1996) specified that the summer learning shortfall equals at least one month loss of instruction as measured by grade level equivalents on standardized test scores. Specifically, the achievement gap has a more profound effect on children as they grow older, where there is a steady deterioration in knowledge and skills sustained during the summer months (Cooper et aI., 1996; Kerry & Davies, 1998). While some stakeholders believe that the benefits of a summer vacation overshadow the reversing effect on achievement, it is the impact of the summer learning gap on vulnerable children, including children who are disadvantaged as a result of requiring special educational needs, children from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and children learning English as a second language, that is most problematic. More specifically, research has demonstrated that it is children's literacy-based skills that are most affected during the summer months. Children from high socioeconomic backgrounds recurrently showed gains in reading achievement over the
summer whereas disadvantaged children repeatedly illustrate having significant losses.
Consequently, the summer learning gap was deemed to exaggerate the inequality experienced by children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Ultimately, the summer learning gap was found to have the most profound on vulnerable children, placing these children at an increased chance for academic failure.
A primary feature of this research project was to include primary caregivers as authentic
partners in a summer family literacy program fabricated to scaffold their children's literacy-based needs. This feature led to the research team adapting and implementing a published study entitled, Learning Begins at Home (LBH): A Research-Based Family Literacy Program Curriculum. Researchers at the Ontario Institute designed this program for the Study of Education, University of Toronto. The LBH program capitalized on incorporating the flexibility required to make the program adaptable to meet the needs of each participating child and his or her primary caregiver. As it has been well documented in research, the role primary caregivers have in an intervention program are the most influential on a child's future literacy success or failure (Timmons, 2008). Subsequently, a requirement for participating in the summer family literacy program required the commitment of one child and one of his or her primary caregivers.
The primary caregiver played a fundamental role in the intervention program through their
participation in workshop activities prior to and following hands on work with their child. The purpose of including the primary caregiver as an authentic partner in the program was to encourage a definitive shift in the family, whereby caregivers would begin to implement literacy activities in their home on a daily basis. The intervention program was socially constructed through the collaboration of knowledge. The role ofthe author in the study was as the researcher, in charge of analyzing and interpreting the results of the study.
There were a total of thirty-six (36) participants in the study; there were nineteen (19)
participants in the intervention group and seventeen (17) participants in the control group. All of the children who participated in the study were enrolled in junior kindergarten classrooms within the Niagara Catholic District School Board. Once children were referred to the program, a Speech and Language Pathologist assessed each individual child to identify if they met the eligibility requirements for participation in the summer family literacy intervention program. To be eligible to participate, children were required to demonstrate having significant literacy needs (i.e., below 25%ile on the Test of Preschool Early Literacy described below). Children with low incident disabilities (such as Autism or Intellectual Disabilities) and children with significant English as a Second Language difficulties were excluded from the study. The research team utilized a standard pre-test-post-test comparison group design whereby all participating children were assessed with the Test of Preschool Early Literacy (Lonigan et aI., 2007), and a standard measure of letter identification and letter sound understanding. Pre-intervention assessments were conducted two weeks prior to the intervention program commencing, and the first set of the post-intervention assessments were administered immediately following the completion of the intervention program. The follow-up post-intervention assessments took place in December 2010 to measure the sustainability of the gains obtained from the intervention program.
As a result of the program, all of the children in the intervention program scored
statistically significantly higher on their literacy scores for Print Knowledge, Letter
Identification, and Letter Sound Understanding scores than the control group at the postintervention assessment point (immediately following the completion of the program) and at the December post-intervention assessment point. For Phonological Awareness, there was no statistically significant difference between the intervention group and the control at the postintervention assessment point, however, there was a statistically significant difference found between the intervention group and the control group at the December post-intervention assessment point. In general, these results indicate that the summer family literacy intervention program made an immediate impact on the emergent literacy skills of the participating children. Moreover, these results indicate that the summer family literacy intervention program has the ability to foster the emergent literacy skills of vulnerable children, potentially reversing the negative effect the summer learning gap has on these children.


title: Plant rhizosphere specificity and variability in the insect and plant adhesins, Madl and Mad2, within the genus Metarhizium suggest plant adaptation as an evolutionary force

subject:
Metarhizium
Biological control agent
Plant adaptation

abstract:
Metarhizium is a soil-inhabiting fungus currently used as a biological control agent
against various insect species, and research efforts are typically focused on its ability to kill insects. In section 1, we tested the hypothesis that species of Metarhizium are not randomly distributed in soils but show plant rhizosphere-specific associations. Results indicated an association of three Metarhizium species (Metarhizium robertsii, M. brunneum and M. guizhouense) with the rhizosphere of certain types of plant species. M. robertsii was the only species that was found associated with grass roots, suggesting a possible exclusion of M. brunneum and M. guizhouense, which was supported by in vitro experiments with grass root exudate. M. guizhouense and M. brunneum only associated with wildflower rhizosphere when co-occurring with M. robertsii. With the exception of these co-occurrences, M. guizhouense was found to associate exclusively with the rhizosphere of tree species, while M. brunneum was found to associate exclusively with the rhizosphere of shrubs and trees. These associations demonstrate that different species of Metarhizium associate with specific plant types.
In section 2, we explored the variation in the insect adhesin, Madl, and the plant adhesin,
Mad2, in fourteen isolates of Metarhizium representing seven different species. Analysis of the transcriptional elements within the Mad2 promoter region revealed variable STRE, PDS, degenerative TATA box, and TATA box-like regions. Phylogenetic analysis of 5' EF-Ia, which is used for species identification, as well as Madl and Mad2 sequences demonstrated that the Mad2 phylogeny is more congruent with 5' EF-1a than Madl. This suggests Mad2 has diverged among Metarhizium lineages, contributing to clade- and species-specific variation. While other abiotic and biotic factors cannot be excluded in contributing to divergence, it appears that plant associations have been the driving factor causing divergence among Metarhizium species.


title: STUDYING ABERRANT METHYLATION AND miRNA PROFILING FOR THE DETECTION OF LUNG CANCER BIOMARKERS

subject:
Lung cancer
Molecular biomarkers
Early diagnosis

abstract:
Lung cancer is a major chronic disease responsible for the highest mortality rate,
among other types of cancer, and represents 29% of all deaths in Canada. The clinical
diagnosis of lung carcinoma still requires a standard diagnostic approach, as there are no
symptoms in its early stage. Therefore, it is usually diagnosed at a later stage, when the
survival rate is low. With the recent advancement in molecular biology and
biotechnology, a molecular biomarker approach for the diagnosis of early lung cancer
seems to be a potential option. In this study, we aimed to investigate and standardize a
promising Lung ,Cancer Biomarker by studying the aberrant methylation of two tumour
suppressor genes, namely RASSFIA and RAR-B, and the miRNA profiling of four
. commonly deregulated miRNA (miR-199a-3p, miR-182, miR-lOO and miR-221). Four
lung cancer cell lines were used (two SCLC and two NSCLC), with comparisons being
made with normal lung cell lines. Our results, we found that none of these genes were
methylated. We then evaluated TP53, and found the promoter of this gene to be
methylated in the cancer cell lines, as compared to the normal cell lines, indicating gene
inactivation. We carried out miRNA profiling of the cancer cell lines and reported that 80
miRNAs are deregulated in lung cancer cell lines as compared to the normal cell lines.
Our study was the first of its kind to indicate that hsa-mir-4301, hsa-mir-4707-5p and
hsa-mir-4497 (newly discovered miRNAs) are deregulated in lung cancer cell lines. We
also investigated miR-199a-3p, mir-lOO and miR-182, and found that miR-199a -3p and
mir-l00 were down-regulated in cancer lines, whereas miR-182 was up-regulated in the
cancer cell lines. In the final part of the study we observed that mir-221 could be a
putative biomarker to distinguish between the two types of lung cancer because it was down-regulated in SCLC, and up-regulated in the NSCLC cell lines. In conclusion, we
found four miRNA molecular biomarkers that possibly could be used in the early
diagnosis of the lung cancer. More studies are still required with larger numbers of
samples to effectively establish these as molecular biomarkers for the diagnosis of lung
cancer


title: The Synthesis and Coordination Chemistry of Two Families of Polydentate Ligands - Exploring Their Potential for the Preparation of Molecule-Based Magnets

subject:
Polydentate Ligands
Molecule-Based Magnets

abstract:
The synthesis and studies of two classes of poly dentate ligands are presented as two
projects. In project 1, four new carboxamide ligands have been synthesised via the
condensation of 2,2',6,6'-tetrachloroformyl-4,4'-bipyridine or 2,6-dichloroformyl pyridine
together with heterocyclic amines containing pyridine or pyrazole substituents. The
coordination chemistry of these ligands has been investigated and studies have shown that with a Cu(II) salt, two carboxamide ligands LJ and L2 afford large clusters with
stoichiometries [Cu8(L1)4Cl16].CHCl3.5H2O.7CH3OH (I) and [Cu9(L2)6Cl6].CH3OH.5H2O.(C2H5)3N (II) respectively. [molecular diagram availabel in pdf]. X-ray diffraction studies of cluster (I) reveal that it has approximate S4 symmetry
and is comprised of four ligands and eight copper (II) centers. Here, coordination takes
place via amide 0 atoms, and pyrazole nitrogens. This complex is the first reported
example of an octanuclear copper cluster with a saddle-shaped structure. The second
cluster comprises nine copper ions that are arranged in a cyclic array. Each ligand
coordinates three copper centers and each copper ion shares two ligands to connect six ligands with nine copper ions. The amide nitrogens are completely deprotonated and both
amide Nand 0 atoms coordinate the metal centres. The cluster has three-fold symmetry.
There are six chloride ions, three of which are bridging two neighbouring Cu(II) centres.
Magnetic studies of (I) and (II) reveal that both clusters display weak antiferromagnetic
interactions between neighbouring Cu(II) centers at low temperature. In the second project, three complexes with stoichiometries [Fe[N302](SCN)2]2 (III), R,R-[Fe[N3O2](SCN)2 (IV) and R,R-]Fe[N3O2](CN)2] (V) were prepared and characterized, where [N302] is a pentadentate macrocycle. Complex (III) was prepared
via the metal templated Schiff-base condensation of 2,2',6,6'-tetraacetyl-4,4'-bipyridine
together with 3,6-dioxaoctane-I,8-diamine and comprises of a dimeric macro cycle where
the two Fe(II) centres are in a pentagonal-bipyramidal environment with the [N302]
ligands occupying the equatorial plane and two axial NCS ligands. Complexes (IV) and
(V) were prepared via the condensation of 2,6-diacetylpyridine together with a chiral
diamine in the presence of FeCh. The synthetic strategy for the preparation of the chiral
diamine (4R,5R)-4,5-diphenyl-3,6-dioxa-I,8-octane-diamine was elucidated. The
chirality of both macrocycles (IV) and (V) was probed by circular dichroism spectroscopy. The crystal structure of (IV) at 200 K contains two independent molecules
in the unit cell, both of which contain a hepta-coordinated Fe(II) and axial NCS ligands.
Variable temperature magnetic susceptibility and structural studies are consistent with a
high spin Fe(II) complex and show no evidence of any spin crossover behaviour. In
contrast, the bis cyanide derivative (V) crystallizes with two independent molecules in the
unit cell, both of which have different coordination geometries consistent with different
spin states for the two Fe(II) centres. At 250 K, the molecular structure of (V) shows the
presence of both 7- and a 6-coordinate Fe(II) complexes in the crystal lattice. As the temperature is lowered, the molecules undergo a structural change and at 100 K the
structural data is consistent with a 6- and 5-coordinate Fe(II) complex in the unit cell.
Magnetic studies confirm that this complex undergoes a gradual, thermal, spin crossover
transition in the solid state. Photomagnetic measurements indicate this is the first chiral
Fe (II) sea complex to exhibit a LIESST.


title: Being Relational With Underserved Youth: A Reflective Process

subject: Under-served youth Autism relationships activity

abstract:
When working with under-served youth, possibly the most important, yet often times the most difficult, thing for practitioners to do is to build positive, trusting, open relationships. This study aims to address this challenge. Two groups of under-served youth were examined, one being teens deemed “at-risk” and one being youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This study was novel in its approach as all efforts were made to ensure the youth's opinions on how to be relational with them were heard. Two youths with ASD were nonverbal and a special picture interview procedure was developed to allow their participation. Three thematic statements emerged from the data collected:
1. Youth need low anxiety relationships.
2. Youth need novel forms of engagement.
3. Youth need us to understand that their actions reflect their histories.
The analyses that lead to these statements are described as well as the reasoning and implications of these statements.


title: Understanding Continuance Intentions of Physicians with Electronic Medical Records (EMRS): An Expectancy-Confirmation Perspective

subject:
physicians
electronic medical records
expectation confirmation theory
health care

abstract: This thesis examines physicians’ satisfaction with electronic medical records (EMRs) in the post-adoption phase. More specifically, the study examines how physicians’ satisfaction with EMRs impacts on their intention to continue using as well as extend their adoption of additional functions of EMRs.  Expectation-confirmation theory is used with the incorporation of perceived risk as the theoretical framework. The extended theoretical model is used to formulate eight hypotheses to aid in the understanding of physicians’ continuance intentions.  A field survey of 135 Canadian physicians that utilize EMRs was performed to test the model empirically. The study found that physicians are willing to continue using and adopting additional components of EMRs. In addition, the empirical results suggest that physicians’ perceived usefulness and perceived risk impacts satisfaction, which in turn influences physicians’ continuance intentions. As well, perceived risk has an influence on physicians’ continuance intentions directly.


title: Mental Health and Becoming a Teacher: A Narrative on the Experiences and Identities of Teacher Candidates

subject: teacher education, mental health

abstract: This study used narrative inquiry to shed light on the identity development of teacher candidates who experienced mental health issues during teacher education programs. The study sought to examine (a) stories that teacher candidates tell about being in a teacher education program while experiencing mental health issues; (b) identity development of teachers who have experienced mental health issues; and (c) how narratives of teacher candidates and beginning teachers challenge stereotyping and stigmatization. Through discussion and letter correspondence, the participants and I shared stories that represented our lived experiences. The study explored our stories using the 3 commonplaces of temporality, sociality, and place from a theoretical framework of narrative inquiry. Four themes emerged from the data analysis: the stigmatization of mental health issues; dealing with conflict; the need for a safe and supportive environment; and the complexity of mental health issues. This study contributes to the literature by exploring the lived experiences of teacher candidates and beginning teachers with mental health issues. The narratives inform teacher education programs, the teaching profession, and the mental health field.


title: Characterising Behavioural Thermoregulation in the Bearded Dragon: The Role of TRPM8

subject:
Thermoregulation
TRPM8
Bearded Dragon
Gaping
ThermTRP

abstract: Temperature regulation is a necessary part of maintaining life, as most biological processes are influenced by temperature. ThermoTRP channels are considered the primary thermosensors in endotherms, but little is known regarding their function in ectotherms. The goal of this study is to establish TRPM8, a cold sensing channel, as a participant in normal thermoregulation of the bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps), an ectotherm. Animals were placed inside a ramping temperature shuttle box to assess the common behavioural thermoregulatory strategy of shuttling. Shuttling involves the periodic movement between cold and warm environments to maintain body temperature at moderate levels. The temperatures for cold and warm escapes represent sensory thresholds for inducing the shuttling thermoeffector. Animals were administered with: 1) an injection of the TRM8 antagonist capsazepine, 2) an injection of the TRPM8 agonist menthol, and 3) menthol applied topically. No effect was observed with injected drugs, but topical menthol resulted in a 2-3oC rise in the ambient temperature threshold and 1-2oC rise in skin temperature threshold for escape from the cold compartment. In an additional experiment, gaping behaviour, a warm temperature thermoregulatory strategy, was assessed. No effect was observed in this behaviour when the same dose of menthol was applied topically. These results point to a role for TRPM8 only in thermoregulation as it relates to cold temperature sensation in lizards, since it does not participate in regulating warm temperature behaviours such as gaping.


title: Managerial Risk-Taking and CEO Excess Compensation

subject:
Risk Taking
Excess Compensation
CEO risk taking
CEO excess compensation
Executive compensation

abstract: This paper examines risk taking and CEO excess compensation problems in U.S firms to determine their impact on shareholders wealth. Literature suggests a positive effect of CEO incentive risk and strong corporate governance on CEO risk taking. Furthermore, the strong governance mitigates excess compensation problem. Controlling for governance quality and incentive risk, I provide empirical evidence of a significant association between risk taking and CEO excess compensation. When I also control for pay-performance sensitivity (delta) and feedback effects of incentive compensation on CEO risk taking, I find that higher use of incentive pay encourages risk taking, and due to a high exposure to risk CEOs draws excess compensation. Furthermore, I find that the excess compensation problem is more serious with CEOs taking high risk than with those taking low risk. Finally, I find that CEO risk taking also has structural impacts on CEO compensation


title: Linking Ethical Leadership and Employees’ In-Role Performance: Exploring the Mediating Roles of Psychological Capital and Follower-Leader Relational Capital

subject:
Ethical Leadership
In-Role Performance
Mediation
Hierarchical Linear Modeling
Psychological Capital
Follower-Leader Relational Capital

abstract: This study investigates the mediating impact of psychological capital and follower-leader relational capital on the relationship between ethical leadership and in-role performance through the lenses of social exchange theory, social information processing theory, and psychological resources theory. Analysis of data collected from a sample of 171 employees and 24 supervisors from Pakistan reveals that ethical leadership has a positive effect on followers’ in-role job performance, yet this effect is fully explained through the role of psychological capital and partially through follower-leader relational capital. Significant implications of these findings for further research and practice are discussed.


title: Inviting Leadership From a Belfast Bedroom: Invitational Leadership in Contemporary Schools

subject: Education, Leadership, Invitational Theory, Belfast

abstract: Educational leadership is challenging, complex, and vitally important to student success.  Despite the publication of theories, books, and research on school leadership, a perception of a chasm between theory and practice exists.  However, the intentional consideration and implementation of theory can make an enormous impact on practice.  This is revealed in this dissertation through the exploration of invitational leadership theory through an autoethnographic study of my leadership journey, as well as the intentionally inviting leadership of Billy Tate, a veteran school principal in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  This dissertation uses an amalgamated methodology of interview and observational research embedded within an autoethnography to intimately explore invitational theory in practice through the lens of a new school principal in Southern Ontario and a veteran principal in Belfast.  This study provides an intimate understanding of the impact and applicability of invitational educational leadership theory in two unique educational, political, and social contexts and draws conclusions from the consideration of and reflection upon my leadership and Billy Tate’s.  This dissertation reveals invitational leadership as a theory of practice that has significantly influenced two very different school leaders and posits that invitational theory is a theory of practice worthy of consideration by educational leaders from around the world.


title: Experimental and Computational Studies on Copper and Hydrobenzoin Derivatives in Catalytic Asymmetric Reactions

subject: Catalytic Asymmetric Reactions

abstract:
The use of theory to understand and facilitate catalytic enantioselective
organic transformations involving copper and hydrobenzoin derivatives
is reported. Section A details the use of theory to predict, facilitate, and
understand a copper promoted amino oxygenation reaction reported by Chemler
et al. Using Density Functional Theory (DFT), employing the hybrid
B3LYP functional and a LanL2DZ/6-31G(d) basis set, the mechanistic details
were studied on a N-tosyl-o-allylaniline and a [alpha]-methyl-[gamma]-alkenyl sulfonamide
substrate. The results suggest the N-C bond formation proceeds via a cisaminocupration,
and not through a radical-type mechanism. Additionally,
the origin of diastereoselection observed with [alpha]-methyl-[gamma]-alkenyl sulfonamide
arises from avoidance of unfavourable steric interactions between the methyl
substituent and the N -protecting group. Section B details the computationally
guided, experimental investigation of two hydrobenzoin derivatives as ligands/
catalysts, as well as the attempted synthesis of a third hydrobenzoin
derivative. The bis-boronic acid derived from hydrobenzoin was successful as
a Lewis acid catalyst in the Bignielli reaction and the Conia ene reaction, but
provided only racemic products. The chiral diol derived from hydrobenzoin
successfully increased the rate of the addition of diethyl zinc to benzaldehyde
in the presence of titanium tetraisopropoxide, however poor enantioinduction
was obseverved. Notably, the observed reactivity was successfully predicted
by theoretical calculations.


title: Localization of monoterpenoid indole alkaloid (MIA) biosynthesis by in situ hybridization (ISH)

subject:
Monoterpenoid indole alkaloids
Biosynthesis

abstract:
Monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIA) are among the largest and most complex group
of nitrogen containing secondary metabolites that are characteristic of the Apocynaceae plant
family including the most notable Catharanthus roseus. These compounds have demonstrated
activity as successful drugs for treating various cancers, neurological disorders and
cardiovascular conditions. Due to the low yields of these compounds and high pharmacological
value, their biosynthesis is a major topic of study. Previous work highlighting the leaf epidermis
and leaf surface as a highly active area in MIA biosynthesis and MIA accumulation has made the
epidermis a major focus of this thesis. This thesis provides an in-depth analysis of the valuable
technique of RNA in situ hybridization (ISH) and demonstrates the application of the technique
to analyze the location of the biosynthetic steps involved in the production of MIAs.
The work presented in this thesis demonstrates that most of the MIAs of Eurasian Vinca
minor, African Tabernaemontana e/egans and five Amsonia species, including North American
Amsonia hubrichitii and Mediterranean A. orienta/is, accumulate in leaf wax exudates, while the
rest of the leaf is almost devoid of alkaloids. Biochemical studies on Vinca minor displayed high
tryptophan decarboxylase (TOe) enzyme activity and protein expression in the leaf epidermis
compared to whole leaves. ISH studies aimed at localizing TOe and strictosidine synthase
suggest the upper and lower epidermis of V. minor and T. e/egans as probable significant
production sites for MIAs that will accumulate on the leaf surface, however the results don't
eliminate the possibility of the involvement of other cell types.
The monoterpenoid precursor to all MIAs, secologanin, is produced through the MEP
pathway occurring in two cell types, the IPAP cells (Gl0H) and epidermal cells (LAMT and SLS).
The work presented in this thesis, localizes a novel enzymatic step, UDPG-7-deoxyloganetic acid
glucosyltransferase (UGT8) to the IPAP cells of Catharanthus longifolius. These results enable
the suggestion that all steps from Gl0H up to and including UGT8 occur in the IPAP cells of the
leaf, making the IPAP cells the main site for the majority of secologanin biosynthesis. It also
makes the IPAP cells a likely cell type to begin searching for the gene of the uncharacterized
steps between Gl0H and UGT8. It also narrows the compound to be transported from the IPAP
cells to either 7-deoxyloganic acid or loganic acid, which aids in the identification of the
transportation mechanism.


title: Self-Regulated Learning and Children At-Risk for Learning Disabilities: Using Motivational Tactics to Support "Reading Rocks!"

subject:
Children with learning disabilites
Remedial literacy program

abstract:
This project explored self-regulation among children impacted by leaming disabilities.
More specifically, this thesis examined whether a remedial literacy program called Reading Rocks! offered by the Leaming Disabilities Association of Niagara Region, provided participating children opportunities to set goals, develop strategies to meet these goals, and provide intemal and extemal feedback- all processes associated with a model of self-regulated leaming as pioneered by Butler and Winne (1995) and Winne and Hadwin (1999). In this thesis, I triangulate the data through the combination of three different methodologies. Firstly, I describe the various elements of the Reading Rocks! program. Secondly, I analyze the data gathered through three semi-structured interviews with three parents of children that participated in the Reading Rocks! program to demonstrate whether the program provides opportunities for children to self-regulate their learning. Thirdly, I also analyze photographic evidence of the motivational workstation boards created by the tutors and children to further illustrate how Reading Rocks! promotes self-regulatory processes among children.


title: Psychopathic Traits and Endocrine Function as Predictors of Costly and Non-Costly Reactive Aggression

subject:
Agressive behaviour
Psychopathy

abstract:
I investigated factors of psychopathy (fearless dominance, self-centered impulsivity) and
hormones (testosterone, cortisol, estradiol) in predicting costly and non-costly reactive
aggression. I hypothesized that whereas self-centred impulsivity (SCI) would promote
costly aggression, fearless dominance (FD) would promote non-costly aggression. Costly
aggression was measured using the Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm and noncostly aggression was measured using one-shot dictator games. In women (n = 97; M age = 19.86 years), greater SCI and lower baseline estradiol predicted greater costly
aggression; also, greater FD predicted greater non-costly aggression, particularly among
women with lower SCI. In men (n = 104; M age = 20.15 years), psychopathy and
endocrine function did not predict costly aggression; however, greater FD and greater
increases in testosterone were associated with greater non-costly aggression. Thus, there
are sex-specific links between psychopathic personality traits, hormones, and aggressive
behaviour, and psychopathic traits and endocrine function predict aggressive behaviour
independently of each other.


title: The Effects of Body Posture on Emotion Perception: A Developmental and Theoretical Analysis

subject: Recognizing emotional facial expressions

abstract:
Previously, studies investigating emotional face perception - regardless of
whether they involved adults or children - presented participants with static photos of
faces in isolation. In the natural world, faces are rarely encountered in isolation. In the
few studies that have presented faces in context, the perception of emotional facial
expressions is altered when paired with an incongruent context. For both adults and 8-
year-old children, reaction times increase and accuracy decreases when facial expressions are presented in an incongruent context depicting a similar emotion (e.g., sad face on a fear body) compared to when presented in a congruent context (e.g., sad face on a sad body; Meeren, van Heijnsbergen, & de Gelder, 2005; Mondloch, 2012). This effect is called a congruency effect and does not exist for dissimilar emotions (e.g., happy and sad; Mondloch, 2012). Two models characterize similarity between emotional
expressions differently; the emotional seed model bases similarity on physical features,
whereas the dimensional model bases similarity on underlying dimensions of valence an .
arousal.  Study 1 investigated the emergence of an adult-like pattern of congruency effects
in pre-school aged children. Using a child-friendly sorting task, we identified the
youngest age at which children could accurately sort isolated facial expressions and body
postures and then measured whether an incongruent context disrupted the perception of
emotional facial expressions. Six-year-old children showed congruency effects for
sad/fear but 4-year-old children did not for sad/happy. This pattern of congruency effects
is consistent with both models and indicates that an adult-like pattern exists at the
youngest age children can reliably sort emotional expressions in isolation.  In Study 2, we compared the two models to determine their predictive abilities. The two models make different predictions about the size of congruency effects for three emotions: sad, anger, and fear. The emotional seed model predicts larger congruency effects when sad is paired with either anger or fear compared to when anger and fear are paired with each other. The dimensional model predicts larger congruency effects when anger and fear are paired together compared to when either is paired with sad. In both a speeded and unspeeded task the results failed to support either model, but the pattern of results indicated fearful bodies have a special effect. Fearful bodies reduced accuracy, increased reaction times more than any other posture, and shifted the pattern of errors. To determine whether the results were specific to bodies, we ran the reverse task to determine if faces could disrupt the perception of body postures. This experiment did not
produce congruency effects, meaning faces do not influence the perception of body
postures. In the final experiment, participants performed a flanker task to determine
whether the effect of fearful bodies was specific to faces or whether fearful bodies would
also produce a larger effect in an unrelated task in which faces were absent. Reaction
times did not differ across trials, meaning fearful bodies' large effect is specific to
situations with faces.
Collectively, these studies provide novel insights, both developmentally and
theoretically, into how emotional faces are perceived in context.


title: Precursors to successful youth-adult partnerships: The role of adult warmth and expertise

subject:
Youth to Adult relationships
Positive youth development
First impressions

abstract:
Youth-Adult Partnerships (Y-APs) have been found to foster youth engagement and positive youth development. However, existing research tends to confound the
characteristics of Y-APs with their general outcomes and the existing methods of
evaluating Y-APs tend to be based on correlational methodologies. I sought to create a
measure of Y-AP success that did not confound the characteristics of a successful Y-AP
with outcomes. Using the existing literature as a guide, three components were
selected for inclusion in the Y-AP success measure: 1) perceptions of productivity; 2)
positive affect; and 3) having one's contributions welcomed and considered. Using this
new measure, I tested a model to assess how adult warmth and expertise interacted with
task difficulty to influence three components of Y-AP success. Participants included 402
university students (M = 19.27, SD = 1.28, 89.1 % female) from Brock University and
Cape Breton University. Video clips of an adult, depicting all possible combinations of
warmth and expertise were created for this study, as well as a pair of hypothetical tasks
designed to elicit differential degrees of perceived difficulty. Participants were exposed
to one video of a hypothetical adult and two hypothetical tasks and responded to the Y-AP
success measures twice, for each ofthe tasks. Results from mixed-model ANOVAs
revealed that the adult and task characteristics were not consistently related to all
components of Y-AP success. However, several significant interactions suggested that
youth perceptions of task difficulty and their impressions of adult partners influenced the
extent to which they expected a Y-AP to be successful. The results are discussed in the
context of how they support or conflict with the existing literature and serve as a first step in the inference of causality within the study of Y-APs.


title: VOCATIONAL INTERESTS: CONSTRUCT VALIDITY AND MEASUREMENT

subject:
Vocational interests
Gender differences

abstract:
This dissertation addressed several questions relevant to vocational interests and personality characteristics, examining (a) the roles of personality, vocational interests, and sexual fantasies in defining a general factor of Masculinity/Femininity (M/F) (Study 1), (b) the validity of a new measure of vocational interests (Study 2), and (c) the individual difference characteristics that discriminate between students in various academic majors, and that predict academic outcomes
(Study 3). In Study 1, vocational interests, personality, and sexual fantasies were examined to find whether these variables would yield a general Masculinity/Femininity (M/F) factor, and whether that factor would still emerge when controlling for participant sex. The results of Study 1 revealed that a general factor of M/F did emerge. When sex was removed, the loadings of vocational interests decreased from high to very low, suggesting that the link of vocational interests with other indicators of M/F is mainly due to sex differences in these variables. The purpose of Study 2 was to validate the Oregon Vocational Interest Scales (ORVIS), a new public domain vocational interests questionnaire designed to measure eight vocational interest scales. ORVIS scores obtained in a college and community sample were compared with those of two
personality measures and two cognitive ability tests. Results from this study showed that the ORVIS scales were reliable and showed good construct validity. The purpose of Study 3, using the ORVIS along with the HEXACO-PI and tests of cognitive ability, was to examine the individual difference characteristics of students in different academic majors, and to use the congruence between a student's academic major and vocational interests as a predictor of academic outcomes, such as GPA, academic major change, and satisfaction with major. The results of Study 3 revealed that students in different academic majors show theoretically meaningful differences in personality, abilities, and interests. Conscientiousness and math ability were found to be the best predictors of academic outcomes. However, congruence between major and interests did not add significant predictive validity to any of these outcomes beyond personality and ability. Together, these three studies show the role of vocational interests in defming MlF and in predicting various academic outcomes.


title: Social Economy and Developmental Disabilities: An Employment Option that Promotes a Form of Authentic Work and Fosters Social Inclusion

subject:
People with developmental disabilities
Social inclusion
Employment

abstract:
Typical employment options for people with developmental disabilities are
insufficient. Most employment opportunities that are community-based provide typical
workplace and geographical inclusion but tend not to support social inclusion and
"belonging". This study explored the innovative employment alternative of social
businesses and considered this form of employment for persons with a developmental
disability as a viable avenue for meaningful work and social inclusion. A total of six
business partners with a developmental disability were interviewed; two partners from
three separate worker owned businesses. The partners' descriptions of their job and their
workplace composed the interpretative findings. The social businesses provided an
avenue for this group of people who tend to be segregated in isolated workshops or
marginalized in mainstream work environments and who feel a sense of being "outsiders"
to participate in meaningful work in community settings. This group of partners
described their job as authentic "work" and discussed the many skills and the work ethic
learned from their employment opportunity. In addition to the instrumental aspects of the
job, the partners also discussed the group autonomy and self-determination of being their
own "bosses". The partners confidently expressed feeling valued, understood in the
context of others with similar life experiences, attached to the workplace and connected
to a larger community as important outcomes of their businesses. These criteria of social
inclusion (Hall, 2010) were complemented by teamwork, friendship and ultimately, with
a feeling of being genuine "insiders". Replication of this innovative employment model
would be recommended for groups of marginalized people with DD in other geographic
areas.


title: Frontal Lobe Function and Performance Monitoring following Total Sleep Deprivation

subject:
Sleep deprivation
Frontal lobe function

abstract:
Imaging studies have shown reduced frontal lobe resources following total sleep
deprivation (TSD). The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in the frontal region plays a role
in performance monitoring and cognitive control; both error detection and response
inhibition are impaired following sleep loss. Event-related potentials (ERPs) are an
electrophysiological tool used to index the brain's response to stimuli and information
processing. In the Flanker task, the error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity
(Pe) ERPs are elicited after erroneous button presses. In a Go/NoGo task, NoGo-N2 and
NoGo-P3 ERPs are elicited during high conflict stimulus processing. Research
investigating the impact of sleep loss on ERPs during performance monitoring is
equivocal, possibly due to task differences, sample size differences and varying degrees
of sleep loss. Based on the effects of sleep loss on frontal function and prior research, it
was expected that the sleep deprivation group would have lower accuracy, slower
reaction time and impaired remediation on performance monitoring tasks, along with
attenuated and delayed stimulus- and response-locked ERPs.
In the current study, 49 young adults (24 male) were screened to be healthy good
sleepers and then randomly assigned to a sleep deprived (n = 24) or rested control (n =
25) group. Participants slept in the laboratory on a baseline night, followed by a second
night of sleep or wake. Flanker and Go/NoGo tasks were administered in a battery at
1O:30am (i.e., 27 hours awake for the sleep deprivation group) to measure performance
monitoring. On the Flanker task, the sleep deprivation group was significantly slower
than controls (p's <.05), but groups did not differ on accuracy. No group differences were
observed in post-error slowing, but a trend was observed for less remedial accuracy in the
sleep deprived group compared to controls (p = .09), suggesting impairment in the ability to take remedial action following TSD. Delayed P300s were observed in the sleep
deprived group on congruent and incongruent Flanker trials combined (p = .001). On the
Go/NoGo task, the hit rate (i.e., Go accuracy) was significantly lower in the sleep
deprived group compared to controls (p <.001), but no differences were found on false
alarm rates (i.e., NoGo Accuracy). For the sleep deprived group, the Go-P3 was
significantly smaller (p = .045) and there was a trend for a smaller NoGo-N2 compared to
controls (p = .08). The ERN amplitude was reduced in the TSD group compared to
controls in both the Flanker and Go/NoGo tasks. Error rate was significantly correlated
with the amplitude of response-locked ERNs in control (r = -.55, p=.005) and sleep
deprived groups (r = -.46, p = .021); error rate was also correlated with Pe amplitude in
controls (r = .46, p=.022) and a trend was found in the sleep deprived participants (r =
.39, p =. 052). An exploratory analysis showed significantly larger Pe mean amplitudes (p
= .025) in the sleep deprived group compared to controls for participants who made more
than 40+ errors on the Flanker task.
Altered stimulus processing as indexed by delayed P3 latency during the Flanker
task and smaller amplitude Go-P3s during the Go/NoGo task indicate impairment in
stimulus evaluation and / or context updating during frontal lobe tasks. ERN and NoGoN2
reductions in the sleep deprived group confirm impairments in the monitoring system.
These data add to a body of evidence showing that the frontal brain region is particularly
vulnerable to sleep loss. Understanding the neural basis of these deficits in performance
monitoring abilities is particularly important for our increasingly sleep deprived society
and for safety and productivity in situations like driving and sustained operations.


title: Forgiveness in Two Minds: Understanding Forgiveness Through Dual-Process Theory

subject:
Forgiveness
Internal conflict
Dual-Process Theory

abstract:
In this thesis, I examined the relevance of dual-process theory to understanding
forgiveness. Specifically, I argued that the internal conflict experienced by laypersons
when forgiving (or finding themselves unable to forgive) and the discrepancies between
existing definitions of forgiveness can currently be best understood through the lens of
dual-process theory. Dual-process theory holds that individuals engage in two broad
forms of mental processing corresponding to two systems, here referred to as System 1
and System 2. System 1 processing is automatic, unconscious, and operates through
learned associations and heuristics. System 2 processing is effortful, conscious, and
operates through rule-based and hypothetical thinking. Different definitions of
forgiveness amongst both lay persons and scholars may reflect different processes within
each system. Further, lay experiences with internal conflict concerning forgiveness may
frequently result from processes within each system leading to different cognitive,
affective, and behavioural responses. The study conducted for this thesis tested the
hypotheses that processing within System 1 can directly affect one's likelihood to
forgive, and that this effect is moderated by System 2 processing. I used subliminal
conditioning to manipulate System 1 processing by creating positive or negative
conditioned attitudes towards a hypothetical transgressor. I used working memory load
(WML) to inhibit System 2 processing amongst half of the participants. The conditioning
phase of the study failed and so no conclusions could be drawn regarding the roles of
System 1 and System 2 in forgiveness. The implications of dual-process theory for
forgiveness research and clinical practice, and directions for future research are
discussed.


title: Investigation of the Relationship between Sexual Orientation and Objective Height, along with Predictors of Height Distortion

subject:
Height
Sexual orientation

abstract:
Studies that have used mostly self-reported height have found that men with a same-sex
orientation and women with an other-sex orientation are shorter, on average, than men
with an other-sex orientation and women with a same-sex orientation, respectively. This
thesis examined whether an objective height difference exists or whether a psychosocial
account (e.g., distortion of self-reports) may explain these putative height differences.
Also, this thesis examined whether certain individual differences (e.g, gender roles and
socially desirable responding) predict height distortion. Eight hundred and thirteen
participants, recruited at Brock University, the Niagara Community and through
surrounding LGBT events, completed self-reported height, measures of gender roles and
socially desirable responding, and had their height measured. Using hierarchical linear
regressions, it was found that Same-Sex/Both-Sex Oriented men were shorter, on
average, than predominantly Other-Sex Oriented men; however, there was no difference
in objective height between Same-Sex/Both-Sex Oriented women and predominantly
Other-Sex Oriented women. These findings contribute to existing biological theories of
men's sexual orientation development and do not contribute to biological theories of
women's sexual orientation development. Height distortion was not related to sexual
orientation and only marginally related to sex. Predictors of height distortion were
Impression Management, in both men and women, and Unmitigated Agency, in men.
These findings highlight the complexity of sexual orientation development in men and
women. These findings also highlight the role of certain psychosocial factors in how
people perceive their bodies and/or how they want their bodies to be perceived by others.


title: DNA-Directed DNA Polymerases Evolve From Reverse Transcriptase

subject:
DNA
RNA
Evolution (Biology)

abstract:
Scientists have been debating for decades the origin of life on earth. A number of
hypotheses were proposed as to what emerged first RNA or DNA; with most scientists are in favour of the "RNA World" hypothesis. Assuming RNA emerged first, it fellow that the RNA polymerases would've appeared before DNA polymerases.
Using recombinant DNA technology and bioinformatics we undertook this study to
explore the relationship between RNA polymerases, reverse transcriptase and DNA
polymerases. The working hypothesis is that DNA polymerases evolved from reverse
transcriptase and the latter evolved from RNA polymerases. If this hypothesis is correct
then one would expect to find various ancient DNA polymerases with varying level of
reverse transcriptase activity.
In the first phase of this research project multiple sequence alignments were made on
the protein sequence of 32 prokaryotic DNA-directed DNA polymerases originating from 11 prokaryotic families against 3 viral reverse transcriptase. The data from such alignments was not very conclusive. DNA polymerases with higher level of reverse transcriptase activity were non-confined to ancient organisms, as one would've expected.
The second phase of this project was focused on conditions that may alter the DNA
polymerase activity. Various reaction conditions, such as temperature, using various ions
(Ni2+, Mn2+, Mg2+) were tested. Interestingly, it was found that the DNA polymerase from
the Thermos aquatics family can be made to copy RNA into DNA (i.e. reverse transcriptase activity). Thus it was shown that under appropriate conditions (ions and reactions temperatures) reverse transcriptase activity can be induced in DNA polymerase.
In the third phase of this study recombinant DNA technology was used to generate a
chimeric DNA polymerase; in attempts to identify the region(s) of the polymerase
responsible for RNA-directed DNA polymerase activity. The two DNA polymerases
employed were the Thermus aquatic us and Thermus thermophiles. As in the second phase various reaction conditions were investigated. Data indicated that the newly engineered chimeric DNA polymerase can be induced to copy RNA into DNA. Thus the intrinsic reverse transcriptase activity found in ancient DNA polymerases was localized into a domain and can be induced via appropriate reaction conditions.


title: Electrophysiological investigations of the timing of face processing

subject: Face recognition

abstract:
As important social stimuli, faces playa critical role in our lives. Much of
our interaction with other people depends on our ability to recognize faces
accurately. It has been proposed that face processing consists of different stages
and interacts with other systems (Bruce & Young, 1986). At a perceptual level,
the initial two stages, namely structural encoding and face recognition, are
particularly relevant and are the focus of this dissertation.
Event-related potentials (ERPs) are averaged EEG signals time-locked to
a particular event (such as the presentation of a face). With their excellent
temporal resolution, ERPs can provide important timing information about neural
processes. Previous research has identified several ERP components that are
especially related to face processing, including the N 170, the P2 and the N250.
Their nature with respect to the stages of face processing is still unclear, and is
examined in Studies 1 and 2.
In Study 1, participants made gender decisions on a large set of female
faces interspersed with a few male faces. The ERP responses to facial
characteristics of the female faces indicated that the N 170 amplitude from each
side of the head was affected by information from eye region and by facial layout:
the right N 170 was affected by eye color and by face width, while the left N 170
was affected by eye size and by the relation between the sizes of the top and
bottom parts of a face. In contrast, the P100 and the N250 components were
largely unaffected by facial characteristics. These results thus provided direct
evidence for the link between the N 170 and structural encoding of faces.   In Study 2, focusing on the face recognition stage, we manipulated face
identity strength by morphing individual faces to an "average" face. Participants
performed a face identification task. The effect of face identity strength was found
on the late P2 and the N250 components: as identity strength decreased from an
individual face to the "average" face, the late P2 increased and the N250
decreased. In contrast, the P100, the N170 and the early P2 components were
not affected by face identity strength. These results suggest that face recognition
occurs after 200 ms, but not earlier.
Finally, because faces are often associated with social information, we
investigated in Study 3 how group membership might affect ERP responses to
faces. After participants learned in- and out-group memberships of the face
stimuli based on arbitrarily assigned nationality and university affiliation, we found
that the N170 latency differentiated in-group and out-group faces, taking longer
to process the latter. In comparison, without group memberships, there was no
difference in N170 latency among the faces.
This dissertation provides evidence that at a neural level, structural
encoding of faces, indexed by the N170, occurs within 200 ms. Face recognition,
indexed by the late P2 and the N250, occurs shortly afterwards between 200 and
300 ms. Social cognitive factors can also influence face processing. The effect is
already evident as early as 130-200 ms at the structural encoding stage.


title: Investigating Changes in Parent Knowledge about Obsessive Compulsive Behaviour Following Group Function-Based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Children with High Functioning Autism

subject:
OCD
CBT
parent training
autism
group CBT

abstract: This study investigated improvements in parent knowledge of effective intervention strategies following participation in a group function-based CBT treatment (GFbCBT) package for children with comorbid OCD and ASD. Nineteen parents of children ages 7-12 years with High Functioning Autism (HFA) participated in the 9-week treatment program. Key components of treatment included psychoeducation and mapping, cognitive-behavioural skills training, function-based interventions and exposure and response prevention (ERP). Treatment sessions also included direct parent education, which followed a behavioural skills training model (Miltenberger, 2008). Parent knowledge (N = 19) was measured pre and post treatment using a vignette about a child demonstrating obsessive-compulsive behaviour. Results of a one-tailed pairwise t-test indicated statistically significant changes (p=.036) in overall parent knowledge following participation in treatment. Statistically significant changes were also found in parents’ ability to generate ERP and function-based intervention strategies. These results provide preliminary evidence that parents benefit from active involvement in the GFbCBT treatment package.


title: Cellular Mechanisms of Resveratrol's Interaction with Mitochondrial Reactive Oxygen Species Metabolism

subject: Resveratrol, Mitochondria, Reactive Oxygen Species, Mn Superoxide Dismutase, Cell proliferation

abstract:
Resveratrol, a polyphenol found naturally in red wines, has attracted great interest in both the scientific community and the general public for its reported ability to protect against many of the diseases facing Western society today.  While the purported health effects of resveratrol are well characterized, details of the cellular mechanisms that give rise to these observations are unclear.
Here, the mitochondrial antioxidant enzyme Mn superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) was identified as a proximal target of resveratrol in vitro and in vivo.  MnSOD protein and activity levels increase significantly in cultured cells treated with resveratrol, and in the brain tissue of mice given resveratrol in a high fat diet.  Preventing the increase in MnSOD levels eliminates two of resveratrol’s more interesting effects in the context of human health: inhibition of proliferative cell growth and cytoprotection.  Thus, the induction of MnSOD is a critical step in the molecular mechanism of resveratrol. 	Mitochondrial morphology is a malleable property that is capable of impeding cell cycle progression and conferring resistance against stress induced cell death.       Using confocal microscopy and a novel ‘cell free’ fusion assay it was determined that concurrent with changes in MnSOD protein levels, resveratrol treatment leads to a more fused mitochondrial reticulum.  This observation may be important to resveratrol’s ability to slow proliferative cell growth and confer cytoprotection.
Resveratrol's biological activities, including the ability to increase MnSOD levels, are strikingly similar to what is observed with estrogen treatment.  Resveratrol fails to increase MnSOD levels, slow proliferative cell growth and confer cytoprotection in the presence of an estrogen receptor antagonist.  Resveratrol's effects can be replicated with the specific estrogen receptor beta agonist diarylpropionitrile, and are absent in myoblasts lacking estrogen receptor beta. Four compounds that are structurally similar to resveratrol and seven phytoestrogens predicted to bind to estrogen receptor beta were screened for their effects on MnSOD, proliferative growth rates and stress resistance in cultured mammalian cells.  Several of these compounds were able to mimic the effects of resveratrol on MnSOD levels, proliferative cell growth and stress resistance in vitro.
	Thus, I hypothesize that resveratrol interacts with estrogen receptor beta to induce the upregulation of MnSOD, which in turn affects cell cycle progression and stress resistance.  These results have important implications for the understanding of RES’s biological activities and potential applications to human health.


title: M(e)a(t)sculinity: Investigating Veg(etari)an Men's Understandings of Masculinity

subject: masculinity vegetarian gender meat

abstract: Using focus group methods, this project examines six men’s experiences of becoming vegetarian and the unique interaction between two identities commonly assumed to be in conflict: vegetarianism and masculinity. Included in this report is an overview of the contemporary debates in gender theory, with specific attention paid to men and masculinity. Seen through the lens of poststructural gender theory and the notion of multiple masculinities, this report demonstrates how vegetarian men challenge, negotiate and assert themselves as men both within the dominant culture and within their own vegetarian communities. This project bridges two existing bodies of work - poststructural gender theory and critical animal studies - to bring a more nuanced and better-articulated critique of gender to existing studies of the relationship between meat and masculinity and to offer this examination of meat consumption and gender performance as an illustration of the valuable applications of poststructural gender theory within critical animal studies.


title: Ligand design for molecule-based magnetic and/or conducting materials

subject: Ligand design, Carboxamide, Tetrathiafulvalene, Spin crossover

abstract:
Work in the area of molecule-based magnetic and/or conducting materials is presented in two projects. The first project describes the use of 4,4’-bipyridine as a scaffold for the preparation of a new family of tetracarboxamide ligands. Four new ligands I-III have been prepared and characterized and the coordination chemistry of these ligands is presented.

This project was then extended to exploit 4,4’-bipyridine as a covalent linker between two N3O2 macrocyles. In this respect, three dimeric macrocycles have been prepared IV-VI. Substitution of the labile axial ligands of the Co(II) complex IV by [Fe(CN)6]4- afforded the self-assembly of the 1-D polymeric chain {[Co(N3O2)H2O]2Fe(CN)6}n•3H2O that has been structurally and magnetically characterized. Magnetic studies on the Fe(II) complexes V and VI  indicate that they undergo incomplete spin crossover transitions in the solid state. Strategies for the preparation of chiral spin crossover N3O2 macrocycles are discussed and the synthesis of the novel chiral Fe(II) macrocyclic complex VII is reported. Magnetic susceptibility and Mössbauer studies reveal that this complex undergoes a gradual spin crossover in the solid state with no thermal hysteresis. Variable temperature X-ray diffraction studies on single crystals of VII reveal interesting structural changes in the coordination geometry of the macrocycle accompanying its SCO transition. The second project reports the synthesis and characterization of a new family of tetrathiafulvalene derivatives VIII – XII, where a heterocyclic chelating ligand is appended to a TTF donor via an imine linker.

The coordination chemistries of these ligands with M(hfac)2.H2O (M( = Co, Ni, Mn, Cu) have been explored and the structural and magnetic properties of these complexes are described.


title: Assessing the adaptive capacity of the Ontario wine industry to climate change: A case study

subject: adaptive capacity, climate change, Ontario wine industry

abstract: The global wine industry is experiencing the impacts of climate change. Canada’s major wine sector, the Ontario Wine Industry (OWI) is no exception to this trend. Warmer winter and summer temperatures are affecting wine production. The industry needs to adapt to these challenges, but their capacity for this is unclear. To date, only a limited number of studies exist regarding the adaptive capacity of the wine industry to climate change. Accordingly, this study developed an adaptive capacity assessment framework for the wine industry. The OWI became the case study for the implementation of the assessment framework. Data was obtained by means of a questionnaire sent to grape growers, winemakers and supporting institutions in Ontario. The results indicated the OWI has adaptive capacity capabilities in financial, institutional, political, technological, perceptions, knowledge, diversity and social capital resources areas. Based on the OWI case study, this framework provides an effective means of assessing regional wine industries’ capacity to adapt to climate change.


title: Disambiguating the Effects of Social Instability Stress in Adolescence on Learning and Memory Tasks that Involve the Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Hippocampus

subject:
Adolescence
Stress
Morris water maze
working memory
long-term memory

abstract: Exposure to chronic stress can alter the structure and function of brain regions involved in learning and memory, and these effects are typically long-lasting if the stress occurs during sensitive periods of development.  Until recently, adolescence has received relatively little attention as a sensitive period of development, despite marked changes in behaviour, heightened reactivity to stressors, and cognitive and neural maturation.  Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the long-term effects of chronic stress in adolescence on two spatial learning and memory tasks (Morris water maze and Spatial Object Location test) and on a working memory task (Delayed Alternation task).  Male rats were randomly assigned to chronic social instability stress (SS; daily 1 hour isolation and subsequent change of cage partner between postnatal days 30 and 45) or to a no-stress control group (CTL).  During acquisition learning in the Morris water maze task, SS rats demonstrated impaired long-term memory for the location of the hidden escape platform compared to CTL rats, although the impairment was only seen after the first day of training.  Similarly, SS rats had impaired long-term memory in the Spatial Object Location test after a long delay (240 minutes), but not after shorter delays (15 or 60 minutes) compared to CTL rats.  On the Delayed Alternation task, which assessed working memory across delays ranging from 5 to 90 seconds, no group differences were observed.  These results are partially in line with previous research that revealed adult impairment on spatial learning and memory tasks after exposure to chronic social instability stress in adolescence. The observed deficits, however, appear to be limited to long-term memory as no group differences were observed during brief periods of retention.