title: Mapping the Distribution of HCN1-Subunit Containing Channels on the Dendritic Trees of Trapezius Motoneurons

contributor:
Rose, Ken P.
Neuroscience Studies

subject:
Immunohistochemistry
Subthreshold Resonance
HCN1
Ih
Motoneuron

abstract: Thesis (Master, Neuroscience Studies) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-01 13:59:32.403

abstract: Voltage-dependent channels on the dendrites of motoneurons provide additional current that amplifies or dampens synaptic current en route to the soma. The specific consequences will depend on the density and distribution of the voltage-dependent channels. HCN channels generate a positive inward current in response to hyperpolarization. HCN channels are responsible for a resonance phenomenon in motoneurons where inputs of certain frequencies are preferentially amplified. Modelling studies indicate that this resonance behaviour only occurs if HCN channels are uniformly distributed on the dendritic tree. However, the distribution of HCN channels on the dendrites of motoneurons is unknown. Furthermore, current techniques for measuring channel density on dendrites suffer from methodological limitations that prevent sampling on a scale necessary to map the distribution of voltage-dependent channels across the dendritic tree. The goal of the present study is to develop a high throughput method for measuring the membrane-associated density of voltage-dependent channels using immunohistochemical, confocal and three-dimensional image analysis techniques. Secondly, the proximal to distal distribution of membrane-associated channels formed by the HCN1-subunit on the dendritic trees of trapezius motoneurons in the adult feline will be compared. Antidromically identified motoneurons innervating the trapezius muscle were intracellularly stained in order to visualize the entire dendritic tree. HCN1-subunit containing channels were labeled with a specific antibody. Dendritic segments (n=27 to 92) of ten trapezius motoneurons at different distances from the soma were acquired using confocal microscopy and rendered into a three-dimensional volume. The perimeter of the intracellular stain was used to define the membrane-cytoplasmic border. Analysis of the HCN1 immunoreactivitywas constrained to this perimeter. This technique provides a means of extracting membrane-associated HCN1 labeling and therefore the functional distribution of HCN1 channels. The density of membrane-associated HCN1 immunoreactvity across the dendritic tree was either uniform or increased with distance from the soma among the ten trapezius motoneurons. The increase in HCN1 density with distance from the soma was inversely related to the density of HCN1 on the soma and proximal dendrites. Lastly, the change in HCN1 density with distance from the soma was inversely related to the total input conductance of the motoneuron.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Referential Lives: Literary, Legal, and Colonial Discourses in Audrey Andrews’  Account of the Life and Trials of Dorothy Joudrie

contributor:
Tolmie, Jane
Morgensen, Scott Lauria
Gender Studies

rights: This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner.

subject:
Intertextuality
Domestic Violence
Battered Woman Syndrome Defence
Post-World War II Gender Socialization
Colonialism
Canadian Literature
Life Writing

abstract: Thesis (Master, Gender Studies) -- Queen's University, 2012-07-28 10:28:24.988

abstract: In Be Good, Sweet Maid: The Trials of Dorothy Joudrie (1999), Audrey Andrews recounts the life and trial of Dorothy Joudrie, a so-called wealthy socialite who was arrested in Calgary in 1995 for attempting to murder her estranged husband after decades of domestic abuse. Andrews tells Joudrie’s story in the form of a semi-auto/biographical text that quotes other scholarly and creative literary works in an intertextual dialogue about violence against women, post-World War II gender socialization, and the “battered women syndrome” defence. This thesis takes this highly referential dialogue as its starting point, and then extends Andrews’ cultural work by tracing a genealogy of colonialism in Canadian domestic violence laws with the help of selected intertexts – including Yvonne Johnson’s Stolen Life: Journey of a Cree Woman (1998), the trial of Angelique Lavallee, and Lorena Bobbitt’s infamous case. First, I source the epigraphs that Andrews strategically places at the start of each chapter and discern the layer of meaning that these external texts bring to Joudrie’s story in order to raise questions about how Andrews rearticulates the work of others and the politics of such a rearticulation. Second, I similarly frame Joudrie’s 1995 trial as a referential and intertextual discourse based in precedent established by the Supreme Court in 1990 when it ruled that expert testimony on the “battered woman syndrome” was admissible in the R. v. Lavallee case (Shaffer 1). This allows me to consider a consequence of the ruling often overlooked in feminist literature: due to the fact that the original defendant, Angelique Lavallee, was a Métis woman whose identity was erased in the courtroom and in case law, subsequent trials employing the “battered woman syndrome” defence repeat settler relations entrenched in colonial violence. Third, I expose how representations can fail by thinking through what Stephen Couser calls the auto/bio/ethics of life writing, which reveals the limits of Canadian laws and literatures. Ultimately, this discussion generates questions about who is considered human under the law and how life writing might re-imagine the “reasonable” human in more just and compassionate ways.

abstract: M.A.


title: Elucidating the interaction between the Fragment 2 domain of Prothrombin and Factor Va

contributor:
Nesheim, Michael E.
Biochemistry

subject:
Fragment 2 domain
Factor Va
Prothrombinase
Prothrombin

abstract: Thesis (Master, Biochemistry) -- Queen's University, 2012-07-31 11:38:32.262

abstract:
The prothrombinase (IIase) complex is an essential component of the coagulation cascade and is composed of a serine protease, Factor Xa (FXa), its non-enzymatic cofactor, Factor Va (FVa), calcium and a phospholipid membrane surface. It activates prothrombin (FII) to thrombin, the principal stimulator of clot formation in vivo. FII activation by IIase is mediated by specific interactions between FII and FVa. Preliminary NMR and peptidyl mimicry studies identified six residues within the FII Fragment 2 (F2) domain (S160, Q177, R181, L182, V184 and T185) that likely mediate an interaction between it and the heavy chain of FVa. Therefore, six recombinant FII derivatives were prepared whereby each of the aforementioned residues was mutated to alanine. FII activation kinetics by FXa in the presence or absence of FVa was measured by DAPA-thrombin complex formation. The results show that FII-S160A, -R181A, -L182A, -V184A and
-T185A had no significant effect on the catalytic efficiency of the reaction in the presence of FVa. In the absence of FVa, the catalytic efficiency of FII-R181A, -L182A, -V184A, and -T185A derivatives decreased by 17-27% compared with wildtype, while FII-S160A had no effect. FII-Q177A, however, showed a significant increase of 17% in catalytic efficiency in the presence of FVa but no change in its absence. Two double (FII-Q177A/R181A and FII-R181A/T185A) and one triple (FII-Q177A/R181A/T185) mutants were generated to determine if multiple mutations would have an additive effect. These derivatives were indistinguishable from wildtype in the presence of FVa. In the absence of FVa, however, their catalytic efficiency values decreased 12-25% compared with wildtype. Further comparison of these values showed that FII-R181A and
-Q177A/R181A both decreased by 25%, while FII-R181A/T185A and
-Q177A/R181A/T185A decreased by 12% and 24% with respect to the wildtype, respectively. Both comparisons, where the only difference was an additional mutation at Q177, suggest that Q177 does not affect the activation kinetics of FII in the absence of FVa. Taken together, our data suggest that Q177 in the F2 domain of FII is likely involved in interacting with IIase through a FVa-dependent mechanism while residues R181, L182, V184 and T185 may be involved through a FVa-independent mechanism.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Functional characterization of a Kar3/Vik1-like Kinesin-14 heterodimer from the filamentous multinucleate fungus Ashbya gossypii

contributor:
Allingham, John
Biochemistry

subject:
Motor Proteins
biochemistry

abstract: Thesis (Master, Biochemistry) -- Queen's University, 2012-07-26 10:40:54.738

abstract: Kinesins are motor proteins that convert chemical energy from ATP hydrolysis into mechanical energy used to generate force along microtubules, transporting organelles, vesicles, and proteins within the cell. Kar3 kinesins are microtubule minus-end-directed motors with pleiotropic functions in mating and mitosis of budding and fission yeast. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Kar3 is multifunctionalized by two non-catalytic companion proteins, Vik1 and Cik1. A Kar3-like kinesin and a single Vik1/Cik1 ortholog are also expressed by the filamentous fungus Ashbya gossypii, which exhibits different nuclear movement challenges and unique microtubule dynamics from its yeast relatives. We hypothesized that these differences in A. gossypii physiology could translate into interesting and novel differences in its versions of Kar3 and Vik1/Cik1. Presented here is a structural and functional analysis of recombinantly expressed and purified forms of these motor proteins. Compared to the previously published S. cerevisiae Kar3 motor domain structure (ScKar3MD), AgKar3MD displays differences in the conformation of the ATPase pocket. Perhaps it is not surprising then that we observed the maximal microtubule-stimulated ATPase rate (kcat) of AgKar3MD to be approximately 3-fold slower than ScKar3MD, and that the affinity of AgKar3MD for microtubules (Kd,MT) was lower than ScKar3MD. This may suggest that elements that compose the ATPase pocket and that participate in conformational changes required for efficient ATP hydrolysis or products release work differently for AgKar3 and ScKar3. There are also subtle structural differences in the disposition of the secondary structural elements in the small lobe (B1a, B1b, and B1c) at the edge of the motor domain of AgKar3 that may reflect the enhanced microtubule-depolymerization activity that we observed for this motor, or they could relate to its interactions with a different regulatory companion protein than its budding yeast counterpart. Although we were unable to gain experimentally determined high-resolution information of AgVik1, the results of Phyre2-based bioinformatics analyses may provide a structural explanation for the limited microtubule-binding activity we observed. These and other fundamental differences in AgKar3/Vik1 could explain divergent functionalities from the ScKar3/Vik1 and ScKar3/Cik1 motor assemblies.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Physiology of Cough in Asthma: Comparison of Mechanical Responses to Mannitol and High-Dose Methacholine Challenges

contributor:
Lougheed, Diane M.
Fisher, John T.
Physiology

subject: Asthma Methacholine Mannitol Cough

abstract: Thesis (Master, Physiology) -- Queen's University, 2012-07-27 08:58:05.298

abstract:
Rationale: Methacholine and mannitol challenges are used clinically to assess airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR). Cough during (a) high-dose methacholine challenge in individuals with methacholine-induced cough and normal airway sensitivity and (b) mannitol challenge in some individuals with asthma both occur in the absence of significant declines in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). We hypothesized mechanical responses to these challenges would reflect a continuum amongst subjects with: (i) asthma; (ii) cough variant asthma (CVA) and (iii) methacholine-induced cough and normal airway sensitivity due to varying degrees of impairment/preservation of the beneficial effects of deep inspirations.
Purpose: To compare cough and airway responses to mannitol and high-dose methacholine challenges between these groups.
Methods: Individuals with asthma or suspected CVA were invited to participate. Subjects were challenged with mannitol and high-dose methacholine in random order 2-14 days apart. Cough frequency, spirometry and esophageal-pressure were recorded at baseline and after each dose of mannitol and methacholine to a maximal decline in FEV1 of 15% and 50% respectively. Plethysmography was used to measure lung volumes at baseline, the dose nearest to a 15% decline in FEV1 during mannitol challenge (PD15) and 20% decline in FEV1 during methacholine challenge (PC20), and at the highest dose of methacholine. Measurements were compared: (a) between groups at PD15, PC20 and the highest dose of methacholine; and (b) within groups at PD15 and PC20, and the highest equivalent level of bronchoconstriction.
Results: 22 subjects (17 female; 48.0±12.7 (mean±SD years)) who completed both challenges were included. All subjects coughed during both challenges. Mechanical responses to mannitol and high-dose methacholine challenges reflected a continuum amongst groups. Six of 8 subjects with asthma were mannitol postitive (PD15=115.2±100.0 mg) and were significantly more sensitive to mannitol compared to 3 of 5 mannitol positive subjects with CVA (PD15=533.6±88.3 mg; p=0.020) and 3 of 9 mannitol positive subjects with methacholine-induced cough and normal airway sensitivity (PD15=472.8±203.0 mg; p=0.037). At the highest equivalent level of bronchoconstriction, methacholine induced significant declines in FEF50% and FEF25-75% in all subjects groups while mannitol did not.
Conclusion: Mechanical responses to mannitol and high-dose methacholine challenges reflected a continuum amongst groups.

abstract: The thesis is to be restricted in order to protect publication rights of the data held within the thesis.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Three Essays on Time Series Quantile Regression

contributor:
Nielsen, Morten Ørregaard
Shimotsu, Katsumi
Economics

subject:
structural change
local-to-unity
Bonferroni method
predictability
quantile regression
cointegration
fully modified estimator

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Economics) -- Queen's University, 2012-07-30 15:20:38.253

abstract: This dissertation considers quantile regression models with nonstationary or nearly nonstationary time series. The first chapter outlines the thesis and discusses its theoretical and empirical contributions. The second chapter studies inference in quantile regressions with cointegrated variables allowing for multiple structural changes. The unknown break dates and regression coefficients are estimated jointly and consistently. The conditional quantile estimator has a nonstandard limit distribution. A fully modified estimator is proposed to remove the second-order bias and nuisance parameters and the resulting limit distribution is mixed normal. A simulation study shows that the fully modified quantile estimator has good finite sample properties. The model is applied to stock index data from the emerging markets of China and several mature markets. Financial market integration is found in some quantiles of the Chinese stock indices. The third chapter considers predictive quantile regression with a nearly integrated regressor. We derive nonstandard distributions for the quantile regression estimator and t-statistic in terms of functionals of diffusion processes. The critical values are found to depend on both the quantile of interest and the local-to-unity parameter, which is not consistently estimable. Based on these critical values, we propose a valid Bonferroni bounds test for quantile predictability with persistent regressors. We employ this new methodology to test the ability of many commonly employed and highly persistent regressors, such as the dividend yield, earnings price ratio, and T-bill rate, to predict the median, shoulders, and tails of the stock return distribution. Chapter Four proposes a cumulated sum (CUSUM) test for the null hypothesis of quantile cointegration. A fully modified quantile estimator is adopted for serial correlation and endogeneity corrections. The CUSUM statistic is composed of the partial sums of the residuals from the fully modified quantile regression. Under the null, the test statistic converges to a functional of Brownian motions. In the application to U.S. interest rates of different maturities, evidence in favor of the expectations hypothesis for the term structure is found in the central part of the distributions of the Treasury bill rate and financial commercial paper rate, but in the tails of the constant maturity rate distribution.

abstract: PhD


title: On the Reduced Operator Algebras of Free Quantum Groups

contributor:
Mingo, James A.
Speicher, Roland
Mathematics and Statistics

subject:
quantum groups
operator algebras
free probability
approximation properties

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Mathematics & Statistics) -- Queen's University, 2012-07-31 12:45:57.767

abstract:
In this thesis, we study the operator algebraic structure of various classes of unimodular free quantum groups, including thefree orthogonal quantum groups $O_n^+$,  free unitary quantum groups $U_n^+$, and trace-preserving quantum automorphism groups associated to finite dimensional C$^\ast$-algebras.

The first objective of this thesis to establish certain approximation properties for the reduced operator algebras associated to the quantum groups $\G = O_n^+$ and $U_n^+$, ($n \ge 2$). Here we prove that the reduced von Neumann algebras $L^\infty(\G)$ have the Haagerup approximation property, the reduced C$^\ast$-algebras $C_r(\G)$ have Grothendieck's metric approximation property, and that the quantum convolution algebras $L^1(\G)$ admit multiplier-bounded approximate identities.

We then go on to study trace-preserving quantum automorphism groups $\G$ of finite dimensional C$^\ast$-algebras $(B, \psi)$, where $\psi$ is the canonical trace on $B$ induced by the regular representation of $B$. Here, we extend several known results for free orthogonal and free unitary quantum groups to the setting of quantum automorphism groups. We prove that the discrete dual quantum groups $\hG$ have the property of rapid decay, the von Neumann algebras $L^\infty(\G)$ have the Haagerup approximation property, and that $L^\infty(\G)$ is (in most cases) a full type II$_1$-factor. As applications of these and other results, we deduce the metric approximation property, exactness, simplicity and uniqueness of trace for the reduced C$^\ast$-algebras $C_r(\G)$, and the existence of multiplier-bounded approximate identities for the convolution algebras $L^1(\G)$. We also show that when $B$ is a full matrix algebra, $L^\infty(\G)$ is an index $2$ subfactor of $L^\infty(O_n^+)$, and thus solid and prime.

Finally, we investigate strong Haagerup inequalities in the context of quantum symmetries arising from actions of free quantum groups on non-commutative random variables.  We prove a generalization of the strong Haagerup inequality for $\ast$-free R-diagonal families due to Kemp and Speicher, and apply this result to study strong Haagerup inequalites for the free unitary quantum groups.

abstract: PhD


title: Spatial analysis of pregnancy complications associated with maternal cardiovascular disease risk in Ontario

contributor:
Hunter, Duncan
Smith, Graeme N.
Chen, Dongmei
Community Health and Epidemiology

subject:
Public Health
Health Geography
Cardiovascular Disease
Spatial Epidemiology
Pregnancy

abstract: Thesis (Master, Community Health & Epidemiology) -- Queen's University, 2012-07-27 13:56:51.945

abstract:
Aim: The aim of this study was to: 1) investigate the geographic distribution of six pregnancy complications associated with future maternal cardiovascular disease risk in the province of Ontario and 2) to identify regions where women are likely to benefit from post-partum cardiovascular disease screening, based on the development of complications during pregnancy.

Rationale: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Canadian women. Pregnancy has been likened to a cardiovascular stress test and provides an early opportunity to assess a female’s lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease.

Methods: This study was a retrospective analysis of data collected for the Niday Perinatal Database, provided by the Better Outcomes Registry & Network. Crude and age-standardized cumulative incidences of six pregnancy complications, and one or more pregnancy complications, were calculated for each Public Health Unit area in Ontario. The cumulative incidence of one or more pregnancy complications for women with no previous history of cardiovascular disease or traditional cardiovascular risk factors was calculated at the Public Health Unit and census subdivision area levels. Spatial statistics were applied to locate statistically significant clusters of high cumulative incidence.

Results: Crude and age-standardized cumulative incidences of each pregnancy complication and one or more pregnancy complications varied across Public Health Unit areas in Ontario. The crude cumulative incidence of one or more complications ranged from 74 to 224 cases per 1000 pregnancies.  The spatial analysis identified one statistically significant cluster of high cumulative incidence at the Public Health Unit area level, spanning the Lambton, Chatham-Kent, and Windsor-Essex Health Unit areas. Seven statistically significant clusters of high cumulative incidence census subdivisions were located within the following Public Health Unit areas: Chatham-Kent, Lambton, Middlesex-London, Ottawa, Leeds, Grenville and Lanark, Renfrew County, Simcoe Muskoka, Grey Bruce, and Eastern Ontario.

Conclusion: Regional variation in the cumulative incidence of six pregnancy complications associated with cardiovascular disease risk was observed in Ontario. Statistically significant clusters of high cumulative incidence of one or more of these pregnancy complications were identified. These regions in particular may benefit from post-partum screening clinics and increased awareness regarding the association between pregnancy complications and cardiovascular disease.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: The proportion of obesity-related behaviours attributable to the neighbourhood built environment in Canadian youth

contributor:
Janssen, Ian
Kinesiology and Health Studies

subject:
Built environment
Geographic information systems
Diet
Physical activity
Youth
Obesity

abstract: Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-01 22:35:22.486

abstract:
The number of obese youth in Canada has tripled over the past 30 years. Two contributing factors to obesity are physical inactivity and poor nutrition. To improve these negative health behaviours, the factors that contribute to their development must be understood and intervened upon. Researchers are focusing on the built environment as one potential factor. The built environment refers to human made physical structures and infrastructure of communities that can influence health behaviours. These include the roads, buildings, parks and recreation facilities, and food retailers of which people can use through work, play, or eating.
The purpose of this thesis was to determine how the built environment influences physical inactivity and fast food consumption in 11-15-year-old Canadians. Physical inactivity and fast food consumption were assessed in a national study called the Canadian Health Behaviour in School Aged Children Survey. Over 6000 youth in grades 6 to 10 were examined. Information on several built environment features were obtained in the neighbourhoods of these 6000 youth using Geographic Information Systems. Measures included walkability indices, parks and other outdoor play spaces, recreation facilities, aesthetics, and fast food restaurants. Relationships between behaviours (physical inactivity, excessive fast food consumption) and neighbourhood built environments were examined using complex statistical tests.
Results indicated that youth living in highly walkable neighbourhoods, neighbourhoods with few or no cul-de-sacs, and neighbourhoods with a modest amount of park space were most likely to be physically inactive. Youth living in neighbourhoods with a moderate or high density of fast food restaurants were more likely to be excessive fast food consumers than youth living in neighbourhoods with no fast food restaurants. Approximately 15-30% of physical inactivity and excessive fast food consumption within the population was attributed to features of the neighbourhood built environment.
This thesis demonstrates that several features of the neighbourhood built environment influence obesity-related health behaviours in youth. Results may guide future policy development and intervention research targeting the built environment.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: A Comparative Analysis of the Neurochemical Properties of Olfactory Ensheathing Cells and their Biocompatibility in Various Biomatrices

contributor:
Kawaja, Michael D.
Neuroscience Studies

subject:
GFAP
Hydrogel
Mammalian
Biomarkers
Olfactory
Spinal Cord Injury

abstract: Thesis (Master, Neuroscience Studies) -- Queen's University, 2012-07-27 15:29:47.642

abstract: Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) are the chief glial population of the mammalian olfactory nervous system and are thought to be responsible for the successful directional growth of new olfactory axons throughout the life of adult mammals. Due to this unique property, OECs have been targeted as a potential cellular transplantation therapy for spinal cord injury. In order to effectively isolate OECs for intraspinal transplantation, more knowledge must be gained on their phenotypic properties. We investigated the neurochemical features of OECs in a variety of mammalian species (including hamsters, rabbits, monkeys, mice, and pigs) using three biomarkers: glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), S100β, and α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA). In addition, we tested the ability of a few biomatrices to sustain and promote OEC growth and survival in vitro. The rationale for using biomatrices is to provide a supportive environment for glial and axonal growth in the spinal lesion. Here, we found that mucosal and bulbar OECs from all five of the aforementioned mammalian species express S100β. Expression of GFAP, however, was not consistent across the five species. Both mucosal and bulbar OECs of monkeys express αSMA; only bulbar OECs of hamsters and only mucosal OECs of rabbits express αSMA as well. Though αSMA immunostaining was not detected in the OECs of adult mice, in adult mutant mice lacking αSMA expression, OECs displayed perturbed ultrastructural morphology. None of the biomatrices used (methacrylated glycol chitosan, arginine-glycine-aspartic acid – grafted methacrylated glycol chitosan, and agarose) were able to promote OEC proliferation. Isolated strips of rodent olfactory lamina propria (the deep connective tissue layer in the olfactory mucosa containing primary sensory axons and OECs) showed sustained growth when cultured for 10 days. In sum, these findings highlight the following points: the efficacy of S100β and αSMA as biomarkers for mammalian OECs in vivo; the potential for isolated strips of lamina propria to provide a natural, supportive environment for OECs during intraspinal transplantation; the failure of methacrylated glycol chitosan and its derivatives, as well as agarose, to promote OEC proliferation.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: The 'high-risk youth' label: A constructive critique

contributor:
Lewis, Magda Gere
Education

subject:
Sociology
Education
Health
Social Work
Youth

abstract: Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-04 13:28:45.395

abstract: In the current study I explore the 'high-risk youth' label and why and how it is applied to young people in relation to community supports and service providers. Particularly, implications of this label are examined by detailing The Centre, a youth outreach, as an alternative to conventional approaches from community supports and service providers towards meeting the health needs of young people. The Centre is a pseudonym. Using a youth engagement model as an approach to harm reduction, The Centre appointed two experienced service users in leadership positions as peers to contribute towards developing programmes and delivering services. Collaborating with both peers at The Centre, the following research questions were explored: a) What do the peers understand as "good health"?; and, b) What do the peers identify and describe as barriers to attaining what they understand as "good health". With the use of Photovoice, a Participatory Action Research (PAR) method, the peers answer these questions by identifying and describing multiple themes through discussions of often complex and intersecting realities in regards to what they voice as their own health needs. By presenting the peers voice as captured through discussion, I provide an explanation for social exclusion from processes that define them and their needs as a fundamental determinant of health.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: Relationships between body size, reproduction, and abundance in natural vegetation

contributor:
Aarssen, Lonnie W.
Biology

subject:
reproductive economy
abundance
natural vegetation
plant body size

abstract: Thesis (Master, Biology) -- Queen's University, 2012-07-30 11:56:23.999

abstract: According to traditional theory, superior competitive ability in plants generally requires a relatively large plant body size. Yet, within natural, crowded vegetation, most resident species are small, and species size distributions are right-skewed at virtually all scales. I aim to provide a potential explanation for this paradox: small species are able to coexist with and outcompete larger species because smaller species have greater ‘reproductive economy’—the ability for some seed production despite severe size suppression when under intense competition. Tracey and Aarssen (2011) found an isometric relationship between minimum reproductive threshold size (MRTS) and maximum resident plant size (MAX); however, a more accurate measure of maximum potential body size (MPBS) was needed (without competition), as typically the effects of competition are size-dependent. An isometric relationship, similar to Tracey and Aarssen (2011) was seen. Tracey and Aarssen (2011) also found that, contrary to the predictions of traditional theory, larger species were not more abundant (based on plot occupancy) in an old-field community. A more accurate measure of abundance was obtained by locating random 1 x 1 m plots and counting the number of ramets for each species in the plot. A significant negative relationship was seen between abundance and MRTS. This suggests that the most abundant plants in communities are not those that are bigger, or smaller, they are those with the smallest MRTSs. To test whether this relationship exists in other habitats, plots were located in different old-field, shrub-land and wood-land communities. Ramets for each species within the plots were counted, and the largest plant of each species was measured. Significant negative relationships between abundance and MAX plant body size were seen in the shrub-land and woodland sites; however, no relationship was detected in this old-field site. The data support the idea that smaller species have greater reproductive economy, but the mechanism remains unknown. These results suggest that a smaller plant body size results in more effective gene transmission into future generations in all habitat types and stages of succession and indicates a suggested paradigm shift in the predicted selection effects of competition on the evolution of plant body size.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Students' Engagement and Staying in School: A Case Study of a Secondary School in Nigeria

contributor:
Myers, Marie J.
Education

subject: Secondary School

abstract: Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2012-07-30 13:43:39.521

abstract:
Most of the research on students’ school engagement is based on Western society (Maslak, Kim, & Mcloughlin, 2010) and most was conducted on students in tertiary institutions (Kuh et al., 2005). This study pertains to the students’ school engagement factors in a non-Western one.
Students’ school engagement continues to be an issue that attracts special attention. In this study, I review the existing literature relating to students’ school engagement while examining whether the success of a school as a learning environment is based on students’ interest in schooling or the fact that the school environment is crucial to students’ success (Bempechat, Beth, Piergross, & Wenk, 2008; Bong & Mimi, 2005; Deci & Ryan, 1992; Harris, 2008; Leithwood, Seashore-Louis, Anderson, & Wahlstrom, 2004; Newell, 2003; Satchwell, 2004; Spillane, Halverson, & Diamond, 2001). In this study, I carry out a qualitative investigation through observations and interviews, of the factors present in school that influence students’ school engagement.
The themes emerging from the data from the school observations and the interviews of the participants were colored by the unique school context, which inordinately did affect students' interest and school participation. Their analysis reveals the interplay of factors like the approach adopted in leadership, the teachers’ approach to pedagogy, and peer socialization towards students’ engagement. In my discussion, I provide suggestions derived from this study on how school administrators, educators and policy makers alike may indeed create, enhance, influence and sustain students’ school engagement in the context such as the one in my study.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: The Effects of Multi-exciton Interactions on Optical Cavity Emission

subject:
Collective Emission
Optical Property
Quantum Dot
Optical Cavity
Cavity-QED
Exciton

abstract: Thesis (Master, Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy) -- Queen's University, 2012-07-30 14:51:15.914

abstract:
This thesis presents a theoretical study of the collective effects of a large number
of photon emitters coupled to optical cavities. The ensemble effects are accounted
for by considering both the light emitting and scattering by the photon emitters. It
suggests that, to correctly estimate the emitters ensemble coupled cavity mode, it
is necessary to consider the existence of the excited excitons ensemble and optical
pumps. This thesis shows that optical pumps can excite more excitons and scattering
channels as pumping power increases. The change in exciton population can lead to
comprehensive spectral behaviors by changing the cavity spectral shapes, bandwidth
and resonance positions, through the inhomogeneous broadening and frequencies repulsion
effects of collective emissions. The existence of the exciton ensemble can also
enhance optical coupling effects between target excitons and the cavity mode. The
target exciton, which has a relatively large coupling strength and is close to the cavity
peak, can affect the properties of the background dipoles and their coupling to
the cavity. All these collective effects are sensitive to the number, the resonances
distribution, and the optical properties of the background excitons in the frequency
domain and the property of the target exciton, if any. This study provides a perspective on the control of the optical properties of cavities and individual excitons through collective excitation.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Active Transportation to School Among Canadian Youth: an Exploration of Correlates and Associated Injury

contributor:
Pickett, William
Janssen, Ian
Community Health and Epidemiology

subject:
Population Health
Youth
Active Transportation
Injury

abstract: Thesis (Master, Community Health & Epidemiology) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-12 15:11:48.409

abstract:
Background: Active transportation refers to methods of travel that involve physical activity, such as walking and bicycling. For students, characteristics of both individual and contextual environments are likely associated with active transportation to school. Furthermore, injury is one possible but overlooked outcome of active transportation to school.

Objectives: To examine among urban Canadian youth in grades 6-10: 1) associations between individual- and area-level factors and active transportation to school and 2) the relationship between active transportation to school and active transportation injury.

Methods: Individual-level data were obtained from the 2009/2010 Canadian Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey. Active transportation to school was measured via student’s report of their usual method of travel to school. Active transportation injury was assessed via self-report for a one-year recall period. Area-level data were obtained from a school administrators’ survey and from various geographical sources. Multi-level logistic regression was used to examine the associations of interest.

Results: Multiple correlates of active transportation to school were identified from the individual/family, school, and neighbourhood. Correlates possessing a potential for intervention and a relatively high population impact were identified: gender (female: relative risk, RR=0.86, 95% CI: 0.80-0.91, population attributable risk, PAR: 7.1%), perception of neighbourhood safety (disagree vs. strongly agree: RR=0.83, 95% CI: 0.70-0.95, PAR: 2.3%), percentage of roads with sidewalks (quartile 3 vs. quartile 1: RR=1.17, 95% CI: 0.96-1.34, PAR: 9.5%), and the total length of streets (quartile 4 vs. quartile 1: RR=1.23, 95% CI: 1.00-1.42, PAR: 6.9%). A positive association between active transportation to school and active transportation injury was identified; the risk for injury increased as walking or bicycling increased (short distance: OR=1.17, 95% CI: 0.92-1.50; long distance: OR=1.56, 95% CI: 1.10-2.21).

Conclusions: Many factors are associated with active transportation to school. While active transportation is associated with the potential for improved health, it also likely increases the risk for active transportation injuries. Interventions to increase active transportation to school should also consider potential negative outcomes. Future studies in this research area could focus on qualitative measures of the environment and school programs, in addition to the etiology of injuries experienced during school travel.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Reconstructing William Blake's Bible of Hell: Diabolical Inversion and Biblical Revision in the 1790-95 Illuminated Books

contributor:
Pierce, John
English

subject:
18th Century
1790s
English Literature
Romantics
Religion
Blake

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, English) -- Queen's University, 2012-07-31 12:36:56.964

abstract: What did William Blake mean when he threatened the world with a “Bible of Hell” in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790)?  A critical survey of the history of scholarship on the topic reveals a variety of unsupported Bible of Hell canon theories among 180 critics.  The most plausible theory (though not the most popular) among them is that the Bible of Hell comprises Blake’s eight core 1790-95 Illuminated Books—The Marriage, the Continental Prophecies (1793-95), and the Urizen Books (1794-95).  My thesis supports this theory from several angles.  Part I examines how The Marriage establishes a Bible of Hell program with four inclusion criteria by which the works of 1793-95 abide: (1) a rhetoric of diabolical revision, which reclaims the Devil as a Christological redeemer and exposes Yahweh as the Antichrist;  (2) organization by contraries; (3) mock-biblical revision; and (4) illumination.  Chapters 3-6 examine these criteria in their literary-historical contexts, first by tracing the genealogy of diabolical revision in satirical diabologies and mundus inversus literature and art of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.  Chapters 4-5 examine aspects of biblical revision in the context of early Christian heresies, modern sects, Enlightenment biblical scholarship, speculative mythography, and biblical parodies.  Chapter 6 considers Blake’s Bible of Hell in the context of the illustrated Bible market of the 1790s.  Part II (Chs. 7-10) assesses Blake's works of 1788-95 according to these criteria, showing that the works of 1788-89 develop Bible of Hell features that culminate in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell and continue in the 1793-95 mock-biblical prophecies.  Here the dissertation’s focus shifts to the conceptual evolution of the Bible of Hell in response to the failure of the French Revolution and its authoritarian backlash in England.  Whereas The Marriage prophesied apocalypse as the righting of the upside-down world by a revolutionary, antinomian Christ, its 1793-95 sequels lose faith in revolution but critique biblical monotheism as the basis of historical tyranny.  The final chapter examines conceptual tensions within the works of 1793-95 to hypothesize why Blake abandoned the Bible of Hell.

abstract: I would like to publish this thesis as a book or two, and believe that if it were available online right away, a publisher would not be interested in risking its investment on a book that will have to compete with a free, online version of it.

abstract: PhD


title: Effects-Driven Fractionation of Heavy Fuel Oil to Isolate Compounds Toxic to Trout Embryos

contributor:
Brown, R. Stephen
Chemistry

subject:
Heavy Fuel Oil
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
Oil Separation

abstract: Thesis (Master, Chemistry) -- Queen's University, 2012-07-31 11:31:15.238

abstract:
Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) is a petroleum product and emerging contaminant used as fuel by cargo ships, cruise liners, and oil tankers. As a high-frequency, low volume commodity shipped by pipeline, train, truck, and ship, it is at high risk for small-scale spills in terrestrial, aquatic, and marine environments. There are few reports characterizing HFOs and quantifying the contaminants therein, but previous studies have shown that the most toxic classes of compounds in petroleum products are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). This project seeks to address that by analyzing HFO 7102, the specific HFO spilled in Wabamun Lake, Alberta in August 2005.
Through an Effects-Driven Fractionation and Analysis, HFO 7102 was successively fractionated by physical and chemical means. First, a low-temperature vacuum distillation separated the oil into three fractions by volatility. The most toxic of these (lowest median toxic concentration, or LC50), F3, underwent a series of solvent extractions to remove asphaltenes and waxes. The remaining PAH-rich extract (F3-1) was further separated using open column chromatography into non-polar, mid-polar, and polar fractions with groupings approximately by number of aromatic rings. At each stage, fractions and sub-fractions were characterized by GC-MS for compositional analysis and bioassays were conducted with rainbow trout embryos. In this fashion, toxicity thresholds were developed for all fractions and the components of HFO 7102 associated with toxicity were identified and quantified.
The F3 fraction was six times more toxic than the whole oil. While the wax fraction (F3-2) was shown to be non-toxic, the remaining PAH-rich extract (F3-1) accounted for all of the toxicity in F3. Future work may be done to determine the relative toxicity of the last fractions generated and identify a range of PAH responsible for fish toxicity. It is expected that the F3-1-2 fraction will be most toxic, as it contains nearly all of the three-ring and most of the four-ring PAH. These size classes of PAH have been associated with chronic toxicity to fish embryos in studies of crude oil. Further separations may be attempted to identify a more specific range of toxic compounds, such as by degree of alkylation.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Variations of Li's criterion for an extension of the Selberg class

contributor:
Murty, Maruti Ram
Mathematics and Statistics

subject:
Selberg class
Li's criterion
GRH
RH
Number Theory
zero-free regions
arithmetic formulae
Riemann hypothesis

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Mathematics & Statistics) -- Queen's University, 2012-07-31 13:14:03.414

abstract:
In 1997, Xian-Jin Li gave an equivalence to the classical Riemann hypothesis,
now referred to as Li's criterion, in terms of the non-negativity of a particular
infinite sequence of real numbers. We formulate the analogue of Li's criterion as
an equivalence for the generalized quasi-Riemann hypothesis for functions in an
extension of the Selberg class, and give arithmetic formulae for the corresponding
Li coefficients in terms of parameters of the function in question. Moreover, we
give explicit non-negative bounds for certain sums of special values of polygamma
functions, involved in the arithmetic formulae for these Li coefficients, for a wide class of functions. Finally, we discuss an existing result on correspondences between
zero-free regions and the non-negativity of the real parts of finitely many Li
coefficients. This discussion involves identifying some errors in the original source work which seem to render one of its theorems conjectural. Under an appropriate
conjecture, we give a generalization of the result in question to the case of Li coefficients corresponding to the generalized quasi-Riemann hypothesis. We also
give a substantial discussion of research on Li's criterion since its inception, and
some additional new supplementary results, in the first chapter.

abstract: PhD


title: Multi-Sensor Data Fusion for Vehicular Navigation Applications

contributor:
Noureldin, Aboelmagd
Korenberg, Michael J.
Electrical and Computer Engineering

subject:
Multi-Sensor Data Fusion
Global Position System
Inertial Sensors
Vehicular Navigation

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Electrical & Computer Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2012-07-31 16:09:16.559

abstract: Global position system (GPS) is widely used in land vehicles but suffers deterioration in its accuracy in urban canyons; mostly due to satellite signal blockage and signal multipath. To obtain accurate, reliable, and continuous positioning solutions, GPS is usually augmented with inertial sensors, including accelerometers and gyroscopes to monitor both translational and rotational motions of a moving vehicle. Due to space and cost requirements, micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) inertial sensors, which are typically inexpensive are presently utilized in land vehicles for various reasons and can be used for integration with GPS for navigation purposes. Kalman filtering (KF) usually used to performs this integration. However, the complex error characteristics of these MEMS based sensors lead to divergence of the positioning solution. Furthermore, the residual GPS pseudorange correlated errors are always ignored, thus reducing the GPS overall positioning accuracy. This thesis targets enhancing the performance of integrated MEMS based INS/GPS navigation systems through exploring new non-linear modelling approaches that can deal with the non-linear and correlated parts of INS and GPS errors. The research approach in this thesis relies on reduced inertial sensor systems (RISS) incorporating single axis gyroscope, vehicle odometer, and accelerometers is considered for the integration with GPS in one of two schemes; either loosely-coupled where GPS position and velocity are used for the integration or tightly-coupled where GPS pseudorange and pseudorange rates are utilized. A new method based on parallel cascade identification (PCI) is developed in this research to enhance the performance of KF by modelling azimuth errors for the RISS/GPS loosely-coupled integration scheme. In addition, PCI is also utilized for the modelling of residual GPS pseudorange correlated errors. This thesis develops a method to augment a PCI – based model of GPS pseudorange correlated errors to a tightly-coupled KF. In order to take full advantage of the PCI based models, this thesis explores the Particle filter (PF) as a non-linear integration scheme that is capable of accommodating the arbitrary sensor characteristics, motion dynamics, and noise distributions. The performance of the proposed methods is examined through several road test experiments in land vehicles involving different types of inertial sensors and GPS receivers.

abstract: PhD


title: Assessing dynamic spinal stability using maximum finite-time Lyapunov exponents

contributor:
Stevenson, Joan M.
Kinesiology and Health Studies

subject:
Dynamics
Neuromuscular Control
Spinal stability
Modeling
Lyapunov exponents

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2012-07-31 15:34:01.804

abstract:
The objective of this work was threefold: 1) to assess how local dynamic spinal stability is affected by various factors including: the personal lift-assist device (PLAD), different loads when lifting, and prolonged repetitive work; 2) to establish the between-day reproducibility of local dynamic stability and kinematic variability measures; and 3) to directly compare local dynamic spinal stability to quasi-static mechanical spinal stability.
The first study was an investigation into the effects of the PLAD on local dynamic spinal stability during repetitive lifting. Short- (λmax-s) and long-term (λmax-l) maximum finite-time Lyapunov exponents were calculated from measured trunk kinematics to assess stability. PLAD use did not change λmax-s, but significantly reduced λmax-l; indicating increased local dynamic spinal stability when lifting with the device.
The second study was a report on the effects of lifting two different loads (0% and 10% maximum back strength) on local dynamic spinal stability and kinematic variability, expressed as the mean standard deviation (MeanSD) across cycles. It was determined that increasing the load that was lifted significantly reduced λmax-s, but not λmax-l or MeanSD. Thus, as muscular and moment demands increased with load so did subjects’ spinal stability.
The third study was designed to look at changes in local dynamic spinal stability and kinematic variability resulting from 1.5 hours of repetitive automotive manufacturing work, as well as the between-day reproducibility of the measures. Operators performed a repetitive dynamic trunk flexion task immediately pre- and post-shift, as well as at the same pre-shift time on the following day. Despite significant increases in back pain scores, operators were able to maintain their stability and variability post-shift. Moreover, λmax-s was the most reproducible measure.
The final study was structured to directly compare lumbar spine rotational stiffness (quasi-static mechanical spinal stability), calculated with an EMG-driven biomechanical model, to local dynamic spine stability, during a series of dynamic lifting challenges. Results suggest that spine rotational stiffness and local dynamic stability are positively associated, as they provided similar information when lifting rate was controlled. However, both models provide unique information and future research is required to fully understand their relationship.
In general, the results of these studies illustrate the potential for Lyapunov analyses of kinematic data to be used to assess local dynamic spinal stability in a variety of situations.

abstract: PhD


title: The Procession and the Wayside in Nineteenth-Century American Writing

contributor:
Snediker, Michael
Varadharajan, Asha
English

subject:
collectivities
Walt Whitman
Martin Delany
American literature
figurative language
Nathaniel Hawthorne

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, English) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-03 12:51:58.064

abstract: I argue that the procession is a deliberate, desirable, and destabilizing social formation. In scholarship of the American nineteenth century, the procession is lost among the clutter of other urban assemblies—crowds, parades, riots—and never fully articulated as a unique vehicle for collective expression. The procession is an attractive alternative to tyrannical majorities and unwise crowds because of its linearity, rationality, and encompassment. Central to the trope of the procession, however, is the wayside or the periphery, adjacent spaces which are often discarded or suppressed by the procession’s forward movement. I trace the variations of this American allegory—national progress and its exclusions—across different genres in the writing of Nathaniel Hawthorne (domestic-cosmic sketches), Walt Whitman (war-time poetic fantasies), Emily Dickinson (regal satires), and as an informing but repudiated element of Martin Delany’s novel Blake; or The Huts of America. These authors critique chaotic and gaudy groups, and instead propose gentle and haptic ones. Whitman, Dickinson, and Delany also have in common their oblique contemplations of the Civil War and President Lincoln’s assassination. Although Lincoln’s multi-state funeral procession is an overwrought spectacle, the procession is so often virtuous because it is the opposite of the state funeral: the authors I consider presuppose, in their sporadic ways, an austere nature to the procession, as fundamental as the dictums “We, the people” or E pluribus unum. Yet, the “grand difficulty,” in Hawthorne’s words, is that in reality and on the streets, the procession’s conceptual intuitiveness—as all-inclusive and leveling as a “procession of life”—recedes from view, deteriorates into chaos, and must be constantly rehabilitated. My tropological analysis of American literature grapples with a vision of democratic organization and process that is not conceived of as the result of collective self-articulation and -determination. What is startling about membership in a procession is how often it does not respect individual choice. It is coercive; you are participating. The procession’s “measured and beautiful motion,” in Whitman’s words, topples assertive modes of authorship, leadership, and ownership because ever-present waysides flatten the hierarchy of center over periphery.

abstract: I plan on revising this thesis for publication.

abstract: PhD


title: An Exploration of Challenges Limiting Pragmatic Software Defect Prediction

contributor:
Hassan, Ahmed E.
Computing

subject:
Software Defect Prediction
Software Engineering
Software Maintenance

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Computing) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-02 13:12:39.707

abstract:
Software systems continue to play an increasingly important role in our daily lives, making the quality of software systems an extremely important issue. Therefore, a significant amount of recent research focused on the prioritization of software quality assurance efforts. One line of work that has been receiving an increasing amount of attention is Software Defect Prediction (SDP), where predictions are made to determine where future defects might appear. Our survey showed that in the past decade, more than 100 papers were published on SDP. Nevertheless, the adoption of SDP in practice to date is limited.

In this thesis, we survey the state-of-the-art in SDP in order to identify the challenges that hinder the adoption of SDP in practice. These challenges include the fact that the majority of SDP research rarely considers the impact of defects when performing their predictions, seldom provides guidance on how to use the SDP results, and is too reactive and defect-centric in nature.

We propose approaches that tackle these challenges. First, we present approaches that predict high-impact defects. Our approaches illustrate how SDP research can be tailored to consider the impact of defects when making their predictions. Second, we present approaches that simplify SDP models so they can be easily understood and illustrates how these simple models can be used to assist practitioners in prioritizing the creation of unit tests in large software systems. These approaches illustrate how SDP research can provide guidance to practitioners using SDP.

Then, we argue that organizations are interested in proactive risk management, which covers more than just defects. For example, risky changes may not introduce defects but they could delay the release of projects. Therefore, we present an approach that predicts risky changes, illustrating how SDP can be more encompassing (i.e., by predicting risk, not only defects) and proactive (i.e., by predicting changes before they are incorporated into the code base).

The presented approaches are empirically validated using data from several large open source and commercial software systems. The presented research highlights how challenges of pragmatic SDP can be tackled, making SDP research more beneficial and applicable in practice.

abstract: PhD


title: Unsettling the White Noise:  Deconstructing the Nation-Building Project of CBC Radio One’s Canada Reads

contributor:
Tolmie, Jane
Gender Studies

subject:
Race
Canada Reads
CBC
Nation

abstract: Thesis (Master, Gender Studies) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-14 21:44:50.087

abstract: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Canada Reads program, based on the popular television show Survivor, welcomes five Canadian personalities to defend one Canadian book, per year, that they believe all Canadians should read. The program signifies a common discourse in Canada as a nation-state regarding its own lack of coherent and fixed identity, and can be understood as a nationalist project. I am working with Canada Reads as an existing archive, utilizing materials as both individual and interconnected entities in a larger and ongoing process of cultural production – and it is important to note that it is impossible to separate cultural production from cultural consumption. Each year offers a different set of insights that can be consumed in their own right, which is why this project is written in the present tense. Focusing on the first ten years of the Canada Reads competition, I argue that Canada Reads plays a specific and calculated role in the CBC’s goal of nation-building: one that obfuscates repressive national histories and legacies and instead promotes the transformative powers of literacy as that which can conquer historical and contemporary inequalities of all types. This research lays bare the imagined and idealized ‘communities’ of Canada Reads audiences that the CBC wishes to reflect in its programming, and complicates this construction as one that abdicates contemporary responsibilities of settlers.

abstract: M.A.


contributor:
Berg, Maggie
Adams, Mary Louise
English

subject:
Gender Studies
Sport
Theatre
Newspapers and Periodicals
Victorian
Rowing
Cycling
Popular Culture
Horse Racing
Masculinity
Print Culture
Britain
Nineteenth Century
Detective Fiction

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, English) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-01 15:16:09.384

abstract: In Marked Men: Sport and Masculinity in Victorian Popular Culture, 1866-1904 I examine the representation of the figure of the Victorian sportsman in different areas of nineteenth-century popular culture – newspapers, spectacular melodrama, and series detective fiction – and how these depictions register diverse incarnations of this figure, demonstrating a discomfort with, and anxiety about, the way in which the sporting experience after the Industrial Revolution influenced gender ideology, specifically that related to ideas of manliness. Far from simply celebrating the modern experience of sport as one that works to produce manly men, coverage in the Victorian press of sporting events such as the 1869 Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, spectacular melodramas by Dion Boucicault, and series detective fiction by Arthur Conan Doyle and Arthur Morrison, all recognize that the relationship between men and modern sport is a complex, if fraught one; it produces men who are “marked” in a variety of ways by their sporting experience. This recognition is at the heart of our own understandings of this relationship in the twenty-first century.

abstract: I am preparing it as a monograph for commercial publication.

abstract: PhD


title: Describing the Effectiveness of Palliative Gemcitabine in Patients With Advanced Pancreatic Cancer Treated at the Regional Cancer Centres of Ontario

contributor:
Mackillop, William J.
Community Health and Epidemiology

subject:
Palliative Chemotherapy
Health Services Research
Pancreatic Cancer

abstract: Thesis (Master, Community Health & Epidemiology) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-01 17:50:00.185

abstract:
Background: Palliative gemcitabine has been shown to prevent the deterioration of well-being and to prolong survival of patients with pancreatic cancer in phase III randomized controlled trials (RCTs). It is unknown whether the efficacy reported in RCTs has translated into effectiveness in routine clinical practice.
Objectives: 1) To describe the characteristics of patients with pancreatic cancer treated with palliative gemcitabine at the regional cancer centres (RCCs) of Ontario, 2) To describe: clinical benefit at two months, defined as stable or improved well-being; time to treatment discontinuation; and overall survival, 3) To identify factors associated with clinical benefit, and 4) To compare the effectiveness of gemcitabine with its reported efficacy in RCTs.
Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data. The study included patients with pancreatic cancer treated with palliative gemcitabine at the RCCs of Ontario between 2008 and 2011. Information about well-being was patient self-reported as captured by the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) at the RCCs. The proportions of patients that achieved clinical benefit were reported. Time to treatment discontinuation and overall survival were calculated using Kaplan –Meier survival analysis. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with clinical benefit.
iii
Results: The study population included 423 patients. Only 168 (39.1%) patients completed a pre-treatment ESAS. Patients completing a pre-treatment ESAS were not different than those that did not. Patients treated at RCCs were not different than those in RCTs. The median age of the study population was 65 years, 50% were male, 57% had stage IV disease and 94% had adenocarcinoma morphology. Thirty-seven percent of patients achieved clinical benefit at two months. Median time to treatment discontinuation and overall survival was 2 and 5.7 months, respectively. Stage and pre-treatment wellbeing were associated with clinical benefit at two months. Similar proportions of patients at RCCs and RCTs experienced clinical benefit. Time to treatment discontinuation and survival were similar as well.
Conclusions: Efficacy of gemcitabine in RCTs has translated into effectiveness for patients treated at the RCCs of Ontario. It is unknown if this is true for patients not treated at the RCCs.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Understanding attachment anxiety and paradoxical reactions to conflict with romantic partners: The moderating role of attachment-related threat

contributor:
MacDonald, Tara K.
Psychology

subject:
Adult Attachment
Conflict

abstract: Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-06 10:39:27.373

abstract: Prior research has shown that attachment anxiety is related to two contradictory conflict styles: submission and dominance. In a series of three studies, I clarified this research by introducing the role of attachment-related threat in moderating submissive versus dominant tendencies of highly anxious individuals in conflict with romantic partners. I propose that rejection-related threats activate the attachment system which motivates anxious individuals to engage in submission to restore psychological proximity to their partners. Alternatively, when threat levels are low, I propose that anxious individuals exhibit dominance towards their partners in attempt to seek validation. In Study One, I replicated and extended previous research by demonstrating the relationship between attachment anxiety and the submissive conflict style. The relationship between attachment anxiety and the dominant conflict style was moderated by gender such that this relationship was stronger for women than men. In Study Two, women read a vignette outlining a hypothetical scenario where their preferences and goals conflicted with those of their partner. This vignette contained a rejection component whereby their partner responded in either a rejecting or reassuring manner. Women high in anxiety reported being somewhat more likely to defer to the wishes of a rejecting versus non-rejecting romantic partner, relative to those low in attachment anxiety. Study Three was a daily diary study, examining the relationship between attachment anxiety and the nature of real life conflicts with romantic partners over 10 days. Individuals high in attachment anxiety reported lower quality interactions and more conflicts with their partners relative to low anxiety individuals. When engaged in conflict, anxious individuals expressed greater levels of hostility towards their partners, and left their conflicts less resolved relative to low anxiety individuals. Further, partner anger moderated the relationship between attachment anxiety and submissive versus dominant tendencies. Individuals high in attachment anxiety and low in avoidance were somewhat more likely to submit to their partners when their partners expressed high levels of partner anger. On the other hand, when their partners displayed low levels of anger, individuals high in attachment anxiety reported doing somewhat more of the arguing relative to low anxiety individuals. Future directions and clinical implications are discussed.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Emotion Co-Regulation in Parent-Child Dyads with Externalizing and Typically-Developing Children

contributor:
Hollenstein, Tom
Psychology

subject:
parent-child interactions
co-regulation
development
externalizing
emotion regulation

abstract: Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-07 11:41:10.329

abstract:
Children's difficulties with regulating or controlling emotion are associated with externalizing problems (Eisenberg et al., 2001). Emotion regulation develops through interactions with caregivers during childhood, where children are socialized about the management and expression of emotions (Kopp, 1989). The parent-child relationship is thus one factor associated with children's externalizing problems and, to date, research on children’s externalizing problems has focused on relationships with parental emotion socialization and parent-child emotions (Granic & Lamey, 2002; Lengua, 2006). However, parent-child co-regulation— the bidirectional process whereby individuals mutually regulate emotions with others (Fogel, 1993)— is also likely a proximal factor in children's externalizing problems. Over time, dyadic patterns emerge and are reinforced through co-regulation, and children develop regulated or dysregulated emotional patterns with their parents (Granic & Lamey, 2002). Co-regulation is also likely related to differences in externalizing symptomatologies, as dyads with children with co-occurring externalizing and internalizing problems (MIXED) show more mutual hostility over the course of a conflict than dyads with purely externalizing children (EXT; Granic & Lamey, 2002).
	The current study examined co-regulation in 255 parent-child dyads, of which 80 had EXT children (73% male), 111 had MIXED children (87% male), and 64 had typically-developing children (63% male). Children were between the ages of 8 and 12 (M = 9.56). Behaviours during positive and conflict discussions were coded with a new observational tool, the Co-Regulation of Emotion (CORE) coding system. CORE's validity was supported with associations with independent raters’ impressions of the interactions. Generally, co-regulation was higher during the conflict as compared to the positive discussions, as expected. Contrary to hypotheses, dyads with EXT and MIXED children did not show more non-supportive co-regulation than dyads with typically-developing children, and dyads with typically-developing children did not show more supportive co-regulation. Similarly, group differences on the association between interaction partners' supportive and non-supportive co-regulation and negative affect were not significant. Overall, MIXED dyads did not show more non-supportive co-regulation than EXT dyads, as had been expected. The findings did not support the hypothesis that emotion co-regulation differentiates dyads with externalizing children from dyads with typically-developing children in middle childhood.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Alpha backgrounds in the DEAP dark matter search experiment.

subject:
Dark Matter
TPB
WIMP
DEAP

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-09 13:12:52.26

abstract:
One of the pressing concerns in Dark Matter detection experiments is ensuring that the potential signal from exceedingly rare Dark Matter interactions is not obscured by background from interactions with more common particles. This work focuses on the ways in which alpha particles from primordial isotopes in the DEAP detector components can cause background events in the region of interest for Dark Matter search, based on both Monte Carlo simulations and data from the DEAP-1 prototype detector.
The DEAP experiment uses liquid argon as a target for Dark Matter interactions and relies on the organic electroluminescent dye tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB) to shift the UV argon scintillation light to the visible range. The light yield and pulse shape of alpha particle induced scintillation of TPB, which is an essential input parameter for the simulations, was experimentally determined.
An initial mismatch between simulated and measured background spectra could be explained by a model of geometric background events, which was experimentally confirmed and informed the design of certain parts of the DEAP-3600 detector that is under construction at the moment. Modification of the DEAP-1 detector geometry based on this model led to improved background rates. The remaining background was well described by the simulated spectra, and competitive limits on the contamination of acrylic with primordial isotopes were obtained. Purity requirements for the DEAP-3600 detector components were based on this work.
The design and testing of a novel large area TPB deposition source, which will be used to make TPB coatings for the DEAP-3600 detector, is described.

abstract: PhD


title: Foundations of Ingroup Bias and Similarity Bias in 2-Year-Olds

contributor:
Kuhlmeier, Valerie
Psychology

subject: Development Group Similarity Psychology

abstract: Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-12 18:08:53.964

abstract: The powerful influence of group membership and similarity on perceptions and behaviour is well established; however, questions remain about the developmental trajectory of these patterns and the extent to which similarity bias and ingroup bias are truly distinct. In this thesis, I examined the relative impact of group membership and similarity on matching and non-matching identification, expression of similarity, extension of preferences, transgression attribution, selective helping and resource allocation among 2.5- to 3-year-old children. These findings suggest that early in life, the responses to similarity and group membership are largely overlapping; however, children in the similarity condition were more likely to select the matching puppet in transgression attribution, non-matching identification, and resource allocation. This pattern suggests that children display a stronger approach bias in the similarity condition and that similarity bias shows developmental discontinuity between early and later childhood.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Essays on Managerial Behaviour, Corporate Governance and Information Risk

contributor:
Topaloğlu, Selim
Management

subject:
Corporate Governance
Information Risk

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Management) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-15 18:48:04.361

abstract: This three-essay dissertation first examines the impact of tax enforcement on the incidence of stock option backdating. Consistent with the theoretical prediction that tax authority enforcement can operate as a valuable monitoring tool by narrowing the scope for managerial entrenchment, we find robust evidence that the incidence of stock option backdating is lower when firms are more likely to be subject to IRS audits. Our results reinforce calls in the public policy discourse for institutions that protect investors by curtailing companies’ “degrees of freedom” to engage in corporate misbehaviour. The second essay examines how the market reacts to announcements of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) by well performing acquirers and evaluates the results in light of three hypotheses: 1) managerial ability, 2) empire building, and 3) chief executive officer (CEO) overconfidence. Our results indicate that an empire building motive drives the relationship between past superior operating performance and M&A announcements. Long-term operating performance drops significantly for acquiring firms with past superior operating performance. Our evidence also indicates that the presence of insider directors helps to alleviate the negative perception of acquisitions made by firms with better operating performance or empire building CEOs. The final essay investigates the controversial issue of whether information asymmetry affects the cost of equity capital. We re-examine this unanswered question using a unique and simple measure of information risk rooted in the growing literature on geographic proximity. Relying on their distance from financial centers to gauge when firms are better known, we provide robust evidence that information risk shapes equity pricing.  In particular, we find that firms located in remote areas exhibit a higher cost of equity capital.

abstract: PhD


title: Fluid Evolution and Structural Control on Uranium Deposits in Successor Basins in Northern Canada and Northern Australia

contributor: Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering

subject:
Fluid Evolution
Uranium Deposits
Successor Basins
Structural Control

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Geological Sciences & Geological Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-13 18:54:41.141

abstract:
Uranium deposits associated with Paleoproterozoic successor basins were investigated using structural, petrographic, geochronological and geochemical relationships to understand the character and timing of ore-forming fluids and the structural control on uranium mineralization. The work focused on two successor basins that share similar geological characteristics: the Martin Lake Basin in the Beaverlodge area in Canada, and the El Sherana Basin in the South Alligator River area in Australia.
The Beaverlodge area records six temporally distinct stages of U mineralization spatially associated with the Martin Lake successor basin. Early minor stages are hosted in cataclasite and veins at ca. 2.29 Ga and in albitized granite in the Gunnar deposit between ca. 2.3 Ga and 1.9 Ga, which predates the main stage of U mineralization of hydrothermal breccias that formed at ca. 1.85 Ga. Later stages of mineralization are related to minor veins at ca. 1.82 Ga linked to alkaline mafic dikes associated with the Martin Lake Basin and to minor veins at ca. 1.62 Ga corresponding to the timing of unconformity-type U mineralization in the overlying Athabasca Basin. The main breccia-type U mineralizing event that affected all deposits in the Beaverlodge area formed at ca. 1.85 Ma from metamorphic fluids at ca. 330oC linked to metasomatism during regional metamorphism of the Trans-Hudson Orogen. The ore-forming fluids were likely derived from metamorphic remobilization of pre-existing U-rich basement rocks, and ascended upward along deep fracture systems that resulted from brittle reactivation of early ductile shear zones.
The main event of U mineralization in the South Alligator River area formed at ca. 1.82 Ma, subsequent to deposition of the El Sherana Group at 1.84-1.83 Ma. The formation of these deposits is related to fluids derived from diagenetic processes in sandstone of the El Sherana Group. Mineralization formed when a 250oC, low latitude, oxidizing, U-bearing basinal brine from diagenetic aquifers in the Coronation sandstone descended downward into the unconformity along fracture systems created by brittle reactivation of the El Sherana-Palette fault system.
Uranium deposits associated with successor basins in the Beaverlodge and South Alligator River area are older than those in the U-rich Athabasca and Kombolgie basins. Rocks that host these deposits have been folded, and then exhumed during subsequent tectonic events. These older U deposits can be considered as a potential source for detrital uraninite that fed sediments of the Athabasca and Kombolgie basins and therefore contributed to the inventory of uranium that formed unconformity-related U mineralization in the younger basins. Therefore, the occurrence of older U mineralization associated with successor basins can be considered as positive criterion for exploration of unconformity-related U mineralization in younger Paleoproterozoic basins.

abstract: PhD


title: Can Infants Use Transitive Inference in Attribution of Goals to Others?

contributor:
Kuhlmeier, Valerie
Neuroscience Studies

subject:
Neuroscience
Psychology
Infancy
Transitive Inference
Goal Attribution
Cognition

abstract: Thesis (Master, Neuroscience Studies) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-14 09:10:37.385

abstract:
Transitive inference refers to the ability to use knowledge of pre-existing relationships to infer relationships between entities that have not been directly compared. This form of logical inference is an important skill for many social species, and has been thought to arise in an immature form in humans between the ages of four and six years. The experimental methods used to test this ability in humans often require some verbal skill, gross or fine motor coordination, a memory capable of containing numerous relationships, and often a great deal of time and repetition in testing. These methods of testing may have been too demanding on other physical and cognitive abilities to be successfully completed by children under four years of age, regardless of their ability to make transitive inferences.
The present study used methods sensitive to infant cognition to test the current theory that the ability to make transitive inferences does not develop until the age of four. Nine-month-old infants were tested in three separate experiments using a visual habituation paradigm similar to that used by Woodward (1998) and through investigation of infants’ own imitative actions. Experiment 1 verified that infants can track the goals of others in a habituation paradigm when the goal object changes position throughout habituation trials, both through looking time measures and imitative action. Experiment 2 used an extension of this paradigm to examine the ability to make transitive inferences across a three item chain, serially ordered by the actor’s object preference, and no evidence of transitive inference was observed. Experiment 3 tested infants’ ability to habituate to and recall multiple goals using context as a cue to actor choice. Infants were able to consistently track only one of the pairings, suggesting that avoidance, in addition to selection, may play a role in infant performance in the visual habituation paradigm.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: A Paleolimnological Examination of Cladoceran (Branchiopoda, Crustacea) Assemblages in Softwater Nova Scotia (Canada) Lakes and Their Responses to Multiple Stressors

contributor:
Smol, John P.
Biology

subject:
Biology
Zooplankton
Nova Scotia
Paleolimnology

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Biology) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-14 09:39:27.617

abstract: The Canadian province of Nova Scotia has an abundance of lakes impacted by multiple stressors, including acidification, lakewater calcium (Ca) decline, climate change, and fish introductions. In spite of this, little is known about long-term trends in aquatic biota, especially microfaunal communities that are useful indicators of lake trophy. This thesis helps address this knowledge gap by providing information on the ecological distribution and long-term dynamics of Cladocera in softwater lakes in Nova Scotia using their subfossil remains preserved in lake sediments.  Based on a surface sediment survey of 49 lakes, Cladocera in Nova Scotia are mainly structured along gradients of maximum lake depth and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Daphnia (generally considered sensitive to low pH and [Ca]) were common in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, but were rare in southwestern Nova Scotia in both modern and pre-industrial sediments, although some lakes exhibited declines in Daphnia since pre-industrial times. The most notable example of this is Lake George (Kings County), where a striking decline in Daphnia, likely a result of declining [Ca], resulted in a marked increase in estimates of past algal production. In Kejimkujik National Park, which has experienced declines in pH and [Ca] since pre-industrial times, significant reductions in chydorid relative abundances were observed, as well as significant increases in the jelly-clad planktonic cladoceran species Holopedium. Cladoceran assemblages in lakes near Yarmouth have also changed significantly since pre-industrial times, but showed no consistent regional trends in the direction of cladoceran species shifts, reflecting the influence of local anthropogenic stressors. An extreme example of this is Trefry Lake, which was treated with copper sulphate in 1938 to remove the native fish community and provide better stocking conditions for brook trout. Copper sulphate treatment resulted in significant and permanent changes to the aquatic food web inferred from a strong decline in the body size of Bosmina.  Collectively, these results suggest that many aquatic ecosystems in Nova Scotia are in a state of flux as a result of multiple anthropogenic stressors, and Cladocera subfossils can be effective for inferring the food web implications of these stressors.

abstract: PhD


title: The Voices of Young Adults With Learning Disabilities: Their Perceptions of Elementary and Secondary Schooling

contributor:
Hutchinson, Nancy L.
Education

subject:
Learning Disabilities
Young Adults
Special Education

abstract: Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-14 14:42:37.904

abstract:
The classroom is a space in which students can participate in both academic and social experiences. Perceptions of school held by students with learning disabilities (LD) may be different than those held by their peers. Researchers suggest that students with LD may experience a sense of being different and isolated from their peers because of their learning differences (Alexander-Passe, 2008; Lackaye & Margalit, 2006). Defining LD is a complex and contested process.  However, the lack of a universal definition can contribute to misconceptions about LD. Moreover, this lack of a universal definition makes it challenging for teachers, both new and experienced, to fully understand how to work with students who have LD.     Students who have been identified as having a learning disability are sometimes removed from their regular classroom for designated periods of time every day and are placed in a special education setting such as a resource room where they receive explicit instruction to help develop their reading and decoding abilities (Nugent, 2008). Thus, this location difference adds to the differences in educational experiences students with LD can encounter.
This qualitative research describes the perceptions of three young adults (aged 18–21) with learning disabilities (YALD) about their educational experiences in elementary and secondary school. Data were collected through two face-to-face in-depth semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis of the data was conducted.
The findings are reported both individually to allow unique stories to emerge and collectively to highlight similar themes discussed by all three participants. Furthermore, the analysis identified academic, social, and interconnection of academic and social experiences from the participants’ discussions. The participants did not think that they were disabled in learning; rather they understood it as they simply learned differently than their non-LD peers. The lack of understanding about LD from teachers and peers, especially in elementary school, was a predominant theme that emerged. The participants suggested that teachers should get to know the individual rather than identifying characteristics of exceptionalities in order to help teachers better understand and work with students with LD.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: Matching and Mismatching Vocal Affect with Message Content

contributor:
Fabrigar, Leandre R.
Psychology

subject:
Attitudes
Persuasion
Vocal Affect

abstract: Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-14 11:05:05.886

abstract: Two experiments examined the influence of affective vocal qualities on attitude change according to the degree of congruency between vocal qualities and the message content (i.e., the extent to which the vocal qualities matched the intent of the message content). In Experiment 1, the design was a 2 (attitude formation: affective base vs. cognitive base) x 4 (persuasive message: fully matched vs. partially matched vs. fully mismatched vs. written passage) between participants factorial. In the initial phase, an attitude was created towards a novel object. This goal was accomplished by directing each participant to read either an emotionally evocative passage or an informational passage designed to produce favorable attitudes towards a fictitious animal called a lemphur (Crites, Fabrigar, & Petty, 1994). In the persuasion phase of Experiment 1, participants were exposed to a negative affective message designed to elicit fear. The results indicated the degree of attitude change produced by the fully matched vocal quality (i.e., a fearful voice) was no different relative to the written passage. However, both the partially matched (i.e., a bored voice) and fully mismatched vocal qualities (i.e., a content voice) generated significantly more attitude change than both the written passage as well as fear. In Experiment 2, the attitude formation phase was similar to that of Experiment 1. However, in the persuasion phase of Experiment 2, the focus was on messages that were cognitive in their content. Specifically, participants were exposed to a negative cognitive message designed to convey negative characteristics of the target. The data revealed the degree of attitude change generated by the fully mismatched vocal quality (i.e., an excited voice) was significantly greater than the written passage as well as both the partially matched (i.e., a fearful voice), and fully matched (i.e., an emotionless voice) vocal qualities. No further differences between vocal qualities were found.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: The Effect of Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1 on the Expression of the Coinhibitory Ligands B7-H3 and B7-H1 in Cancer: Relevance to Cancer Immune Escape

contributor:
Graham, Charles H.
Anatomy and Cell Biology

subject:
Cancer
Hypoxia
Immune Escape

abstract: Thesis (Master, Anatomy & Cell Biology) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-15 11:10:06.237

abstract: The interactions between tumour cells and cells of the immune system are important in the natural evolution of cancer, and the acquired immune system plays an integral role in cancer immune escape. B7-H3 and B7-H1 ligands provide coinhibitory signals to T cells resulting in T cell anergy or apoptosis and their expression has been shown to increase in cancer cells. Tumour hypoxia (oxygen concentration below physiological level) is a major contributor to the spread of cancer and resistance to radiation and chemotherapy. We proposed that hypoxia results in the upregulation of the B7 molecules B7-H3 and B7-H1. Furthermore, studies in our laboratory have shown that acquisition of malignant properties in tumour cells exposed to hypoxia can be inhibited by low concentrations of nitric oxide mimetic agents such as glyceryl trinitrate (GTN). Using cultured breast and prostate cancer cells, we investigated whether the hypoxia-inducible factor HIF-1α, would mediate an upregulation of these ligands. Using a mouse model, we investigated the effect of GTN on tumour growth in vivo. For the in vitro studies, we exposed MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells and DU-145 prostate cancer cells to standard culture conditions, hypoxic conditions, or 100 μM CoCl2 (stabilizes HIF-1α) for 24 hours. Our findings indicate that B7-H3 mRNA was upregulated in hypoxia (P = 0.0101). Contrary to our hypothesis, B7-H3 protein was not upregulated in hypoxia. Interestingly, increased B7-H1 protein expression correlated with increased HIF-1α expression (r2=0.48, P<0.0001), and HIF-1α bound to the hypoxia response element (HRE) of B7-H1. These results indicate a role for HIF-1α in the upregulation of B7-H1 levels in MDA-MB-231 cells.  While in vitro studies indicated no effect of GTN, a study using female BALB/c mice injected with 4T1 mammary carcinoma cells resulted in a decrease in tumour volume in the GTN treated mice. Together, these results indicate a novel role for HIF-1α in the up-regulation of B7-H1 on cancer cells, thus potentially contributing to immune escape of cancer cells and additionally, a role for GTN as a possible breast cancer therapy.

abstract: Novel findings in this thesis have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal. As such public access to the thesis must be restricted such that these findings remain novel at the time of journal submission.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Characterization of Mobile Phase Flow Inhomogeneity in Micro-structured Fibres: Towards the Development of Multi-channel Supports for Open Tubular Liquid Chromatography

contributor:
Oleschuk, Richard
Chemistry

subject:
Micro-structured Fibres
Open Tubular Liquid Chromatography

abstract: Thesis (Master, Chemistry) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-15 11:57:28.915

abstract: Despite the prominent role played by open tubular columns in gas chromatography, they have enjoyed comparatively little success as supports for open tubular liquid chromatography (OTLC), owing to impractical channel diameters (3-5 μm) required to facilitate retention in the liquid phase. In an effort to circumvent the technical issues associated with such narrow diameters, columns with multiple parallel channels have been suggested as alternatives – to this end, micro-structured fibres (MSFs) have been proposed as supports for OTLC. Much research has been conducted using MSFs for chromatography in the Oleschuk group, and although some success has been achieved, performance has been continuously hindered by flow velocity variation among the channels stemming from differences in channel sizes (or channel variance) as well as differences in stationary phase coverage, which serve to degrade column efficiency. Recent efforts have focused on devising a novel method for assessing the channel variance of MSFs. This method seeks to determine hole tolerance through evaluation of the extent of band broadening that occurs when performing chromatography in the absence of a retentive mechanism. Using this method, a linear correlation between the relative standard deviation of the channel diameters and the amount of broadening was revealed. To supplement the results, computational fluid dynamics was employed to simulate fluid flow through multi-channel columns. The results of these simulations again provided a linear correlation between the RSD of the channel diameters and the extent of flow velocity variation among the channels.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: The Alignment of Preservice Elementary School Teachers’ Beliefs concerning Mathematics and Mathematics Teaching

contributor:
Roulet, Geoffrey
Education

subject: Education Beliefs Mathematics

abstract: Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-15 14:10:52.103

abstract: Preservice teachers bring to their studies a host of beliefs concerning the nature of mathematics. These mathematical beliefs have been shown to influence teachers’ instructional practices. Research that examines the alignment of beliefs about the nature of mathematics and beliefs about effective instructional practices have left many unanswered questions including, do beliefs concerning the nature of mathematics held by preservice primary-junior mathematics teachers align with beliefs concerning effective mathematics instruction at the beginning of teacher education programs? In this study, the beliefs Ontario preservice primary-junior (grades JK-6) teachers bring to their teacher preparation programs were examined and the alignment of beliefs concerning the nature of mathematics and the teaching and learning of mathematics was explored. Specifically, I investigated the beliefs of preservice teachers who displayed contradictory views on the nature of mathematics and effective instructional practice; preservice teachers who held absolutist beliefs about mathematics but intended to teach using a constructivist approach. A questionnaire was used to identify participants with misaligned beliefs, and interviews, with a focus on manipulative use, were used to further explore the nature of the misalignment. Preservice teachers were found to hold primarily absolutist beliefs about the source, stability and structure of mathematical knowledge and intended to use many constructivist tools and techniques in their teaching of mathematics. Further exploration of how and why these constructivist teaching tools and techniques were intended to be used revealed a more traditional mathematics teaching approach. The findings of this study therefore suggest that preservice teachers’ beliefs at the beginning of their teacher education program were primarily absolutist and traditional in nature and therefore were aligned. The misalignment of beliefs detected by the questionnaire could more appropriately be labelled an apparent misalignment.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: Creating Meaningful Learning Experiences: Understanding Students' Perspectives of Engineering Design

contributor:
Strong, David S.
Mechanical and Materials Engineering

subject:
Learning Sciences
Design Cognition
Teaching and Learning
Qualitative Methodology
Engineering Education
Engineering Design

abstract: Thesis (Master, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-23 12:22:24.3

abstract:
There is a societal need for design education to prepare holistic engineers with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to innovate and compete globally. Design skills are paramount to the espoused values of higher education, as institutions of higher learning strive to develop in students the cognitive abilities of critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity.  To meet these interests from industry and academia, it is important to advance the teaching and learning of engineering design.
This research aims to understand how engineering students learn and think about design, as a way for engineering educators to optimize instructional practice and curriculum development.
Qualitative research methodology was used to investigate the meaning that engineering students’ ascribe to engineering design.  The recruitment of participants and corresponding collection of data occurred in two phases using two different data collection techniques.  The first phase involved the distribution of a one-time online questionnaire to all first year, third year, and fourth year undergraduate engineering students at three Canadian Universities.  After the questionnaire, students were asked if they would be willing to participate in the second phase of data collection consisting of a personal interview.  A total of ten students participated in interviews.  Qualitative data analysis procedures were conducted on students’ responses from the questionnaire and interviews.  The data analysis process consisted of two phases: a descriptive phase to code and categorize the data, followed by an interpretative phase to generate further meaning and relationships.
The research findings present a conceptual understanding of students’ descriptions about engineering design, structured within two educational orientations: a learning studies orientation and a curriculum studies orientation.  The learning studies orientation captured three themes of students’ understanding of engineering design: awareness, relevance, and transfer.  With this framework of student learning, engineering educators can enhance learning experiences by engaging all three levels of students’ understanding.  The curriculum studies orientation applied the three holistic elements of curriculum—subject matter, society, and the individual—to conceptualize design considerations for engineering curriculum and teaching practice.
This research supports the characterization of students’ learning experiences to help educators and students optimize their teaching and learning of design education.

abstract: M.A.Sc.