title: Toward a Posttmodern Multiculturalism?: Issues of Identity in Carol Shields's The Stone Diaries

contributor:
York, L.
English

abstract: Theorizing "multicultural" identity has only just begun. The Canadian Multiculturalism Act, passed in July 1988, officially recognizes and promotes the pluri-ethnic composition of Canadian society. The popular assumption that ethnicity and culture might be vital influences on the development of identity has prompted the recent effort by sociologists, politicians and literary critics to outline the manner in which multiculturalism, having first flourished within a relatively weak national identity, might tum around and strengthen the nation's identity with a distinctive, pluralist agenda. Linda Hutcheon's postmodem theory of multicultural identity focuses on the "differences" generated by the ethnic and cultural dialogue that is an inherent condition of a multicultural society, differences that prevent the nation from forming, in postmodem terms, a necessarily exclusive "master-narrative" of cultural identity. Hutcheon's understanding of the aims of multiculturalism differ from the aims described in federal policy which focus, rather, on developing a sense of national unity within cultural and ethnic diversity. This discrepancy suggests room for debate and a need to expose clearly the principles that might underlie a theory of multicultural identity. Postmodemism is first and foremost a theory of "difference" and not a theory of identity. As such it indiscriminately subjects all discourse, including discourses of national and individual identity, and even the very belief in stable, centred identity, to a self-conscious process of deconstruction or, in other words, to a process that demands recognition of "different" ways of seeing the world. After examining the effects of postmodem identity on Daisy Goodwill in Carol Shields's novel The Stone Diaries, it is possible to conclude that, while postmodernism fosters a healthy cultural and ethnic exchange at the national level, it ironically obscures cultural and ethnic roots at the individual level and exposes the individual to the threat of isolation and meaninglessness.

abstract: Master of Arts (MA)


title: Aspects of Processing and Analysis of Human Gait Data

contributor:
Torre, Della E.
Sinha, N.K.
Electrical Engineering

subject:
Electrical and Electronics
Electrical and Electronics

abstract:
This thesis is mainly directed towards the developement of new techniques that can be used in the analysis of normal and pathological gaits. The kinematic aspects of human gait are studied, and a new technique for the derivation of spatial trajectories of joints from electrogoniometric measurements is presented. The technique relies on the fact that at any point in time, there is at least one point of either foot in contact with the floor. This point is used as an instantaneous reference from which the positions of the joints are calculated. The procedure is repeated for various points of contact during the walk cycles.

The spatial trajectories are used in the study of the kinetics of gait. Forces and moments acting at the joints are computed by considering the equations of motion of the segments of the lower extremity. Rates of energy exchange between the muscles crossing the joints and the segments connected by these joints are estimated, and the total energy expenditure by the leg muscles during swing is obtained. The relation between the speed of walking and energy expenditure by the muscles is studied for normal subjects and hemiplegic patients. The outcome of this study is a new method that can be used in the assessment of normal and pathological gaits.

A study of the various electromyographic processing strategies is presented. The different processors are evaluated, and the processor that is most suitable for the analysis of gait is determined. This processor is used on EMG signals from various muscles, and the processed signals are used as inputs to systems whose outputs are the muscle torques at the joints. The transfer-function models of these systems are obtained for the swing phase, and then the same models are used to predict muscle torques and floor-reaction forces during the stance phase.

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: The Viability of Sectorai Corporatism in Canada: An Analysis of the Viability of the Steel, Electrical and Electronic and, Automotive Parts Training Councils

contributor:
Atkinson, Michael
Political Science

subject:
Political Science
Political Science

abstract: Steady and rising rates of unemployment continue to be a fundamental policy problem to the federal and provincial governments in Canada As a result, business and labour interests in conjunction with the federal and provincial governments have begun to formulate and implement labour adjustment policy, specifically training, through sectoral corporatist adjustment boards. The resulting 'success' of these corporatist initiatives remains too premature to analyse, however, the viability of the structures currently in place are a cogent basis for analysis. This thesis seeks to sketch out what structural viability for sectoral based corporatist adjustment boards looks like and how structural variables may be an indication of future policy success or failure. Finally, this thesis attempts to answer the following research hypothesis: can the labour market partners design consensus based governance structures that permit cooperation in the formulation and implementation of training policies and programs? The research hypothesis will be answered through the mysis of three sectoral based corporatist initiatives in the steel, electrical and electronics and automotive parts manufacturing sectors.

abstract: Master of Arts (MA)


title: Exploring the Past, Present and Future of Traditional Native Healing In Southwestern And South-Central Ontario

contributor:
Warry, Wayne
Anthropology

subject: Anthropology Anthropology

abstract:
Respect and acceptance for Native people's traditions including their traditional healing knowledge and practices is growing in both Native and non·Native medical circles. Impressive changes are occurring in the field of Native health care, as traditional healing philosophies and practices take up residence in the mandates and programs of many Native health centres across Canada. This applied anthropology study documents the perceptions of individuals working in Native health care environments regarding traditional healing approaches: past, present and future. One can use Native and non· Native perceptions of traditional healing, and its present utilization, to envision its role in Native health care and in the larger sphere of Native self·determination.

Four main themes emerged from the open.ended interviews conducted with respondents. The first concerns the relationship that many respondents have with traditional healing approaches. Many respondents are themselves on a life path in which traditional healing belief and practice has been used in the past to re·calibrate their lives. Worked into this healing process is the intimate relationship between healing and a strong sense of personal and cultural identity. The second is that traditional healing is part of a growing 'healing movement' aimed at improving the collective health of Native communities. The third involves respondent's concern over the tenuous relationship between newly developed traditional healing initiatives and government funding. Respondents expressed concern that funding issues could not only hamper the availability of traditional services, but could effect the quality of services available. The final theme surrounds the future management of traditional healing services. Respondents question ·whether, how or who should regulate and monitor traditional healing. I conclude that these key issues need to be addressed by Native individuals and Native health organizations. In keeping with an applied approach, I offer numerous recommendations regarding the current and future use of traditional healing. These suggestions are based primarily on the information provided by respondents during interviews.

abstract: Master of Arts (MA)


title: Aqricultural Policy-making at the European Community Level: Pluralist or Corporatist?

contributor:
Coleman, William
Political Science

subject:
Political Science
Political Science

abstract:
This qualitative study was conducted to determine the validity of Streeck and Schmitter's (1991) argument that pluralism is the dominant form of interest intermediation at the European Community level. This thesis tests their hypothesis by examining the organization of agricultural interests at the Community level.

The thesis establishes that agricultural interests continue to participate in a corporatist style of policy making at the national level.

Secondly, the qualitative analysis enables us to conclude that a corporatist style framework does exist at the Community level.

Thirdly, Streeck and Schmitter's (1991) argument that the Community and its structures contribute to a pluralist organization of interest groups, must be qualified when applied to the organization of agricultural interests at the Community level.

Corporatism does exist in this particular policy sector at the Community level, but it is weaker than that found at the national level.

The analysis focused on negotiation of the Blair House Agreement in November 1992. The case study highlighted the disintegration of authority from the time the negotiations were completed, to the period following the French Parliamentary elections of 1993.

The case study highlights the fragile nature of corporatist arrangements at the Community level. While the thesis demonstrates that corporatism has been replicated to the Community level, it illustrates the real limits to the development of corporatism at the Community level due to the continued prevalence of national interests.

The thesis points to a need for further research as to the nature of policy networks, and how the type of policy network can change depending on the policy sector, and the issue at hand. It raises further questions as to the validity of Streeck and Schmitter's (1991) argument when applied to other policy sectors.

Furthermore, the existence of differing levels of corporatism both at the national level, and between individual member states should be further examined. This thesis also contributed to our knowledge of corporatism by analyzing the role national corporatism and indeed transnational corporatism played in encouraging national interests, thereby ensuring the fragility of corporatism transnationally.

abstract: Master of Arts (MA)


title: Blue Collar Commuting: Toronto Auto Workers in the 1920s

contributor:
Harris, Richard S.
Geography

subject: Geography Geography

abstract:
Working-class suburbanization was taking place in early twentieth-century North American cities such as Toronto. The impact of industrial decentralization upon the suburbanization of workers is examined with reference to automotive workers in Toronto in the 1920s. The main focus question is whether industry or workers suburbanized first. Labour turnover is examined, as well as the distance of the journey to work, the location of the workers by type of worker, and differences between the four companies -- Dodge, Durant, Ford and Willys-Overland.

The methodology involves using Toronto city directories to map and measure the commuting patterns of auto workers, and to infer patterns of suburbanization of auto workers. Few researchers have used city directories as a source of commuting data. It is argued that directories would be useful in the analysis of commuting and suburbanization in other North American cities.

abstract: Master of Arts (MA)


title: Middle East Oil and Multinational Expansionism: A Study in Imperialism and Underdevelopment

contributor:
Smith, Dusky Lee
Sociology

subject: Sociology Sociology

abstract: I greatly appreciate the confidence and aid of my thesis committee members - Professors Louis Greenspan, Camille Legendre, Richard Roman, and Dusky Smith - in making this endeavour less hazardous and difficult than it might have been. All of these men have helped me to formulate questions and perspectives in useful ways at one time or another during the research. Dusky Smith, as Supervisor, has had most continuous contact with the progress of my work and been particularly helpful in needed theoretical and stylistic criticism. Qussay Samak, my husband, has not only endured the usual chaos of the thesis companion, but has been a most critical resource in terms of specific data on the Middle East.

abstract: Master of Arts (MA)


title: LIMITS TO REFORM: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY IN ONTARIO 1880 - 1984

contributor:
Goldstein, M.
Political Science

subject:
Political Science
Political Science

abstract:
Much contemporary literature argues that the need for profit in capitalist market economies places limits upon the socio-economic development of society. This thesis will seek to explore the limitations the need for profit places upon the activities within the production process. This will be carried out through an examination of the occupational health and safety issue. Through this examination it is argued that the need for profit severely limits the extent to which capital and labour can comprehensively address the increasing incidence of hazards in the workplace. In fact, it will be argued that the need for profit not o~ly constrains the resolution of occupational health and safety hazards, but it is also implicated in the inadvertant introduction of these hazards.

In addressing this question the thesis first examines the way in which the need for profit restructures the labour process and leads to the inadvertant introduction of hazards into the workplace. Having examined this it is argued that because of the nature of the capitalist market economy. both capitalist3 and labour are constrained in the action they can take to overcome the presence of hazards in the workplace. Further it is suggest that the state may be best equipped to fulfill this role.

The thesis then provides an analysis of the way in which the Government of Ontario has historically addressed the occupational health l and safety issue. This thesis examines the Ontario Factory Acts, the Workers' Compensation Act and the governments most recent attempt of eradicating workplace hazards - the Occupational Health and Safety Act. It is argued that the Occupational Health and Safety Act is a partial response to the government's previous failure to reduce hazardous work conditions. Finally, it is argued that the state is in fact limited and constrained by the very same factor capital and labour are affected by, namely the need for the constant expansion of profit.

abstract: Master of Arts (MA)


title: Experimental and Computational Studies on the Effect of Secondary Bonding Interactions on the Spectroscopic Properties and Reactivity of Organo-chalcogen Compounds

contributor:
Vargas-Baca, Ignacio
Chemistry

subject:
Inorganic Chemistry
Inorganic Chemistry

abstract:
This thesis presents the results of investigations on the application of modern spectroscopic techniques to the characterisation of secondary bonding interactions (SBIs) in selected organo-chalcogen compounds. Although the research was mostly focused on two families of compounds, ditellurides and chalcogen-substituted azodyes, the observations and conclusions are applicable to a wide variety of compounds. Because the effects of the SBIs are subtle, great care was taken to carefully distinguish contributions from other factors. DFT computational studies showed that the molecular conformation influences the electronic excitations observable in the UV-vis spectrum and the frequency of resonance in 125Te NMR of organoditellurides. In the absence of protection to shield the chalcogen from intermolecular interactions, the 125Te NMR chemical shift is dependent on the concentration of ditellurides; intramolecular SBIs attenuate the concentration dependency and steric protection cancels it entirely. The nature of the solvent impacts the results of both spectroscopic techniques through several mechanisms, including the solvatochromic effect, conformational changes due to the polarity of the medium and solvation. Solution 125Te NMR spectroscopy is sensitive to all those contributions but, for the same reason, it cannot be applied in an unambiguous way to identify the presence of SBIs.

Conversely, the use of intramolecular SBIs to modify the spectroscopic properties of a conjugated chromophore was investigated. Push-pull azobenzenes were derivatised with functional groups containing divalent chalcogen atoms through metathesis with a mercurated derivative of the azodye. The regiochemistry of formation of the intermediate was shown to be under kinetic control. In the chalcogen-substituted molecules, the efficiency of electron delocalisation through the SBIs was assessed by calculations of the nucleus independent chemical shift (NICS). The linear (UV-vis absorption) and nonlinear (second harmonic-generation) optical responses of the modified chromophore were investigated and interpreted in the context of the SBIs. Substitution with the chalcogen groups, and the consequent perturbation of the π-system, cause a blue shift in the first absorption maxima but little change was observed in the hyperpolarisability of the chromophore ortho-functionalised with the phenylselenenyl group. The sensitivity of the electronic spectrum to the SBI was applied to monitor the process of halide exchange in the halo-chalcogenyl derivatives of the push-pull azobenzene.

Very strong SBIs can result in interatomic distances so short that they are difficult to distinguish from hypervalent covalent bonds. This is the situation observed in the structure of the first 2,5,8,11,1,4,7,10,3,6,9,12-tetraoxatetratelluratetrazacyclododecane. DFT calculations showed that this unusual macrocycle is stable with respect to dissociation into isotellurazole oxide and VT NOESY experiments indicate it remains intact in solution.

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: The production of women onlyness: Women's flat track roller derby and women-only home improvement workshops

contributor:
Atkinson, Michael
Sociology

subject: gender

subject: gender regime

subject: cultural production

subject: women onlyness

subject: roller derby

subject: home improvement

subject: Gender and Sexuality

subject: Other Sociology

subject: Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies

subject: Sociology

subject: Gender and Sexuality

abstract: This dissertation is based on four years of ethnographic research of contemporary women-only social formations. Two women-only leisure activities, women’s flat track roller derby and women-only home improvement workshops, were selected as sites through which to explore the research problem: problematizing contemporary women onlyness. The research problem is developed in direct contrast to the dominant (naturalized, essentialized, assumed) approach to women onlyness in the literature. Specifically, taking a fresh look at women-only social formations by problematizing women onlyness, through exploring women’s experiences of and meaning making about women onlyness, calls critical attention to women onlyness. The analysis, informed by a conceptual framework that draws on Connell’s concept of ‘gender regime’ and a CCCS-inspired approach to cultural production, reveals the ways that women participants are active in the production of women onlyness gender regimes. Specifically, women’s flat track roller derby skaters and women-only home improvement workshop participants consistently and constantly negotiate essentialized stereotypes of gender as they “win space” for themselves in traditionally male-dominated and masculine defined activities and settings, and make meaning of their involvement in these women-only leisure activities. Women participants produce women onlyness gender regimes in the ways they make time and space for and gender mark these activities, and in social interactions with each other, men, and other women. They work to produce women onlyness gender regimes that are experienced as welcoming, supportive, and comfortable, and encourage women to develop expertise and relationships with other participants. Emphasizing these processes of production reveals that these women onlyness gender regimes are not the natural result of a women-only group or the exclusion of men. These findings contradict the tendency in the existing literature to naturalize women onlyness, and contribute to our understanding of contemporary women-only social formations.

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: Rectified electroosmotic flow in microchannels using Zeta potential modulation – Characterization and its application in pressure generation and particle transport

contributor:
Selvaganapathy, Ravi P.
Chan Ching, Philip Britz McKibbin
Mechanical Engineering

subject:
microfluidics
zeta potential
electroosmotic flow
polyurethane
particle image velocimetry
Biomechanical Engineering
Biomechanical Engineering

abstract: Microfluidic devices using electroosmotic flows (EOFs) in microchannels have been developed and widely applied in chemistry, biology and medicine. Advantages of using these devices include the reduction of reagent consumption and duration for analysis. Moreover the velocity profile of EOFs, in contrast to the parabolic profile found in pressure-driven flows, has a plug-like profile which contributes significantly less to solute dispersion. It also requires no valve to control the flow, which is done with the appropriate application of electrical potentials, thus becomes one of the favourite techniques for sample separation. However, high potentials of several hundred volts are usually required to generate sufficient EOF. These high potentials are not practical for general usage and could cause electrical hazard in some applications. One of the possible solutions is the introduction of zeta potential modulation. The EOF in a microchannel can be controlled by the zeta potential at the liquid/solid interface upon the application of external gate potentials across the channel walls. Combined with AC EOF, it can rectify the oscillating flows and generate pressure that can be used for microfluidic pumping applications. Since the flow induced by the alternating electric field is unsteady and periodic, it is critical to visualize the flow with high spatial and temporal resolutions in order to understand fluid dynamics. A novel method to obtain high temporal resolution for high frequency periodic electrokinetic flows using phase sampling technique in micro particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements are first developed in order to characterize the AC electroosmotic flow. After that, the principle of zeta potential modulation is demonstrated to transport particles, cells, and other micro organisms using rectified AC EOF in open microchannels. The rectified flow is obtained by synchronous zeta-potential modulation with the driving potential in the microchannel. Subsequently, we found that PDMS might not be the best material for some pumping and biomedical applications as its hydrophobic surface property makes the priming process more difficult in small microchannels and also causes significant protein adsorption from biological samples. A more hydrophilic and biocompatible material, polyurethane (PU), was chosen to replace PDMS. A polyurethane-based soft-lithography microfabrication including its bonding, interconnect integration and in-situ surface modification was developed providing better biocompatibility and pumping performance. Finally, an electroosmotic pumping device driven by zeta potential modulation and fabricated by PU soft lithography was presented. The problem of channel priming is solved by the capillary force induced by the hydrophilic surface. Its flow rate and pressure output were found to be controllable through several parameters such as driving potential, gate potential, applied frequency, and phase lag between the driving and gate potentials.

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: CADMIUM AND CALCIUM TRANSPORT ALONG THE GASTRO-INTESTINAL TRACT OF RAINBOW TROUT: MORE THAN “GUT FEELINGS” ON MECHANISMS OF UPTAKE

contributor:
Wood, Chris M.
Biology

subject:
cadmium
calcium
gastro-intestinal tract
gut sac
oncorhynchus mykiss
rainbow trout
steelhead trout
Biology
Biology

abstract:
Teleosts take up metals by two major pathways: gills and/or gut. Past research is heavily focused on branchial uptake despite evidence that the gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) is the dominant route in some natural environments. To address this information gap, my thesis characterizes uptake mechanisms of Cd and Ca along the GIT of Oncorhynchus mykiss. Toxic effects of Cd, protective effects of Ca against Cd uptake, and Cd distribution within fish after ingestion are also explored.

Four-week dietary Cd exposure affected growth and Ca regulation, while causing toxicity at the subcellular level. Elevated Ca in diets protected against accumulation and altered subcellular handling of Cd. Pre-exposure to different diets changed unidirectional uptake and binding rates of Cd and Ca, although they remained highly correlated. Binding rates of Cd to mucus can predict absorption rates of Cd.

A variety of in vitro and in vivo experiments on four distinct GIT segments (stomach, anterior-, mid-, and posterior- intestine) were undertaken to determine specific mechanisms of Cd and Ca uptake in freshwater trout. Cd transport was unaffected by solvent drag, but was stretch- and temperature- sensitive. Strong evidence for a common pathway for Ca and Cd transport was obtained. Cd also appeared to be taken up in part by zinc (ZIP-like) transporters and the divalent metal transporter DMT1. Ca uptake along the GIT appeared to be carrier-mediated, time- and concentration- dependent, but was not affected by solvent drag, or by Na concentration. Mucosal Cd did not inhibit Ca uptake. Ca, but not Cd, uptake rates were much lower in sea water-acclimated trout. Seawater and freshwater fish accumulated similar whole body Cd concentrations when fed contaminated diets for three weeks, but the majority of Cd in seawater trout remained in the posterior intestine tissue, while freshwater trout had higher internal burdens.

This thesis advances the knowledge of metal uptake along the GIT of trout.

abstract: Doctor of Science  (PhD)


title: Spatial and Temporal Heterogeneity in Phytoplankton Communities

contributor:
Harris, G.P.
Biology

subject: Biology Biology

abstract:
Simultaneous discrete volume samples and synoptic continuous transect samples were taken in Hamilton Harbour during stratified and unstratified conditions in order to look for small scale pattern in the phytoplankton community.

Continuous transect data collected from the measurement of fluorometric chlorophyll a, spectrophotometric chlorophyll a, nitrate→nitrite, nitrite, filtered reactive phosphorous, total phosphate, filtered reactive silica and some species enumerations were examined using mean square pattern analysis and power spectral analysis.

The excessive spatial variability encountered precluded the use of pooled variance analysis techniques.

Power spectral analysis was much more sensitive to small scale variations than mean square pattern analysis although the latter may be more indicative of larger scale structure.

Cross comparisons (covariance, correlation, cross-spectra) could not be performed because of peak shift phenomena and because of large differences in the estimates of parameter values.

The fluorometric determinations of chlorophyll a smoothed out structure revealed by the more precise spectrophotometric determinations. The spectrophotometric chlorophyll a estimates, in most cases, did not reflect the distributions of the numerically dominant species.

The spectral analyses for most parameters displayed structure predominantly at scales less than 25 m which are a reflection of the fundamental periodicities present in the harbour at all times of the year. Parameter distributions at length scales beyond 25 m tend to be randomized under the influence of increased wind speed. Parameter distribution at basin scales appears to be a function of the wind driven circulation.

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: ECOHYDROLOGICAL RESPONSE TO PEATLAND DRAINAGE AND WILDFIRE

contributor:
Waddington, James M.
Geography and Earth Sciences

subject: sphagnum peatland fire drainage hydrology disturbance Hydrology Hydrology

abstract:
Disturbed peatlands may undergo a dramatic alteration in ecohydrological conditions, potentially limiting the recolonisation of peat-forming species like Sphagnum. A poor fen was experimentally drained in 1984, both the drained and undrained portion of the peatland burned in 2001, providing an unique opportunity to examine the ecohydrological response to ‘double disturbance’.

The undrained site was characterized by a healthy recovery of peatland microform Sphagnum species, low soil water pressure (Ψ), high volumetric soil moisture (θ) content and high and stable water table position. However, the drained site showed no recolonization of Sphagnum with Brome grasses representing the dominant surface cover nine years post-wildfire.

While the study period was generally wet and as such Ψ did not exceed thresholds limiting Sphagnum growth (≥ -100 mb) during the study period, a series of ecohydrological influences were found to be operating, limiting Sphagnum recolonisation at the drained site. The physical peat structure following drainage and wildfire has been considerably altered, changing the moisture retention and water storage properties of the peat, largely through substantive increases in bulk density (ρb). Moreover, specific yield (Sy) has also decreased the drained peat having become more humified, increasing unstable water table fluctuations. As such, this has lowered the resilience to drought. Only smaller decreases in θ are required to reach Ψ ≥ -100 mb at the drained and impose ecophysiological stress on Sphagnum growth. Dense canopy cover (Betula and Salix) has limited available radiation at the surface to recolonisation, shading out the surface, further limiting Sphagnum recolonisation.

abstract: Master of Science (MSc)


title: Sparse Canonical Correlation Analysis (SCCA): A Comparative Study

contributor: Narayanaswamy Balakrishnan and Aaron Childs

subject:
CCA
SCCA
High-Dimensional
Multivariate Analysis
Multivariate Analysis

abstract: Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) is one of the multivariate statistical methods that can be used to find relationship between two sets of variables. I highlighted challenges in analyzing high-dimensional data with CCA. Recently, Sparse CCA (SCCA) methods have been proposed to identify sparse linear combinations of two sets of variables with maximal correlation in the context of high-dimensional data. In my thesis, I compared three different SCCA approaches. I evaluated the three approaches as well as the classical CCA on simulated datasets and illustrated the methods with publicly available genomic and proteomic datasets.

abstract: Master of Science (MSc)


title: Advanced Electrode Materials for Electrochemical Supercapacitors

contributor:
Zhitomirsky, I.
G. Botton, G. Xu
Materials Science and Engineering

subject:
Electrochemical Supercapacitors
Polypyyrole
Chromotropic acid
Electropolymerization
Polymer and Organic Materials
Polymer and Organic Materials

abstract:
Electrochemical supercapacitors (ES) have become an attractive research interest in advanced power systems and found many applications as an energy storage device in number of areas. The fabrication of advanced electrodes with novel materials and new techniques plays a key part in determining the properties of ES. Conducting polymer polypyrrole (PPY) has been found to be a promising electrode material for ES due to its high pseudo-capacitance and good electrical conductivity.

Polypyrrole (PPY) films were successfully obtained on stainless steel substrates by anodic electropolymerization. Anionic dopants such as 2,6-naphthalenedisulfonic acid disodium salt (NSA), chromotropic acid disodium salt (CHR) and gallic acid were used for the synthesis of PPY. The roles of additives in the electrodeposition process have been discussed. The deposition was performed galvanostatically or potentiodynamically and the electrochemical properties of PPY have been investigated and compared by using different characterization techniques.

The comparison of the experimental data for NSA, CHR and gallic acid showed the influence of aromatic ring and OH groups on the capacitive behaviour of PPY films. Adherent PPY films were obtained from pyrrole solutions containing CHR as dopant. The specific capacitance (SC) increased with increasing pyrrole and dopant concentration in the solutions used for deposition. The PPY films prepared on stainless steel substrates by electropolymerization are promising electrode materials for ES.

abstract: Master of Applied Science (MASc)


title: RNA extraction protocol development for the assay of temporal gene expression in batch-cultured Escherichia coli K-12

contributor:
Schellhorn, Herb E
Igdoura, Suleiman
Morton, Richard
Biology

subject:
escherichia coli
Wasniewski
expression
RNA
temporal
stationary phase
Bacteriology
Biology
Molecular genetics
Bacteriology

abstract: The sigma S subunit (RpoS) of RNA polymerase acts as the master regulator of stress in Escherichia coli, allowing adaptation and survival under unfavourable conditions such as nutrient deprivation. RpoS regulates and integrates the signals of hundreds of genes (about 10% of the genome) organized into complex networks and modules that govern the response to stress and entry of the cell into stationary phase. Although microarray studies have been performed on starvation models in E. coli, the expression of the RpoS regulon has not been studied in long-term cultures due to the difficulty of isolating RNA from starving cells. In this study, the development of a protocol for isolating RNA from stationary phase cells, employing hot acid phenol without the use of DNase, is described. In addition, the expression of several genes during different phases of growth is analyzed by RT-qPCR in order to validate preliminary microarray data obtained from 24 and 48 hour-old cultures. Although the results obtained by RT-qPCR agree well with the literature, they do not corroborate preliminary microarray data at the 24 and 48 hour timepoint.

abstract: Master of Science (MSc)


title: Delineating the Role of TCF3 in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell Self-Renewal and Differentiation

contributor:
Doble, Brad
Biochemistry

abstract: In addition to its roles in developmental and cancer-related processes, emerging evidence suggests that the canonical Wnt pathway is also involved in regulating stem cell self-renewal and differentiation. The ubiquitous serine/threonine kinase, Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 (GSK-3) is a key regulator of this pathway. Genetic ablation of the two GSK-3 genes α and β (referred to as DKO, for double knockout) in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs), renders them incapable of efficiently differentiating into the three germ layers. In an attempt to rescue the differentiation blockade of DKO mESCs, we expressed dominant-negative forms of the TCFs (TCF1, LEF1, TCF3 and TCF4), the final effector molecules of the canonical Wnt pathway. The expression of dominant-negative TCF1, LEF1 or TCF4 was tolerated and resulted in attenuated expression of β-catenin/TCF target gene expression in cells that continued to self-renew and express pluripotency markers. By contrast, the expression of dominant-negative TCF3 resulted in cell differentiation/death. Thus, TCF3 appears to play a unique role in the regulation of mESC properties. To clarify the underlying mechanism of TCF3’s action in mESCs, we examined the effects of expressing a dominant-negative TCF3 (TCF3DN) and full-length TCF3 (TCF3FL) in DKO and wild-type mESCs using an inducible doxycycline-regulated system. We found that expression of either TCF3DN or TCF3FL in DKO and wild-type mESCs down-regulates TCF activity and Nanog expression. However, expression of TCF3DN or TCF3FL in DKO mESCs was unable to rescue the neuroectoderm blockade, but may have directed cells to differentiate into the endoderm lineage. Moreover, we have established a potential role for β-catenin in regulating the expression levels of TCF3 itself. The information obtained from these studies provides new insights into the mechanisms through which TCF3 regulates mESC self-renewal and differentiation.

abstract: Master of Science (MSc)


title: Electroporation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells for the Secretion of Factor IX

contributor:
Hortelano, Gonzalo
Biomedical Engineering

subject: Mesenchymal stem cell

subject: electroporation

subject: hemophilia

subject: gene therapy

subject: genetic engineering

subject: cell therapy

subject: stem cell

subject: factor IX

subject: Molecular, cellular, and tissue engineering

abstract: Mesenchymal stem cells have shown potential for success in gene therapy due to their ability to differentiate and their immunomodulatory properties in vivo. Although they have many inherent characteristics that are suitable for use within gene therapy, genetic modification of these cells is more difficult. Since MSCs are available in limited quantities and cannot be expanded indefinitely, the modification technique must ensure efficient expression of the transgene, a high cell survival rate and an intact ability to differentiate to various cell lineages. We optimized electroporation conditions for the genetic engineering of bone marrow-derived and umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells. MSCs engineered using electroporation conditions produced more transgene expression than cells engineered with cationic lipids in bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells, but produced similar amounts in umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Optimal electroporation conditions also expressed more transgene than polymer based transfection reagent in umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Cell survival after optimal electroporation conditions was 67% in umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Most importantly, cells maintained their ability to differentiate into osteogenic, chondrogenic and adipogenic cell lineages. Electroporating umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells with a Factor IX containing plasmid lead to the FIX protein being expressed for over 12 days in vitro. This optimized electroporation protocol has created a fast, easy, economic and efficient method for genetically modifying mesenchymal stem cells without altering their ability to differentiate.

abstract: Master of Applied Science (MASc)


title: Understanding the Inhibition of the Alzheimer's Ab peptide by Human Serum Albumin

contributor:
Melacini, Giuseppe
Bain, Alex D.
Ortega, J.
Chemical Biology

subject: Alzheimer's Disease

subject: Amyloid

subject: NMR

subject: Human Serum Albumin

subject: Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology

abstract: Aggregation of the Alzheimer’s Aβ peptide in the brain and blood plasma is controlled by endogenous Aβ binding proteins. The structural basis for the interaction between the Aβ peptide and the Aβ binding proteins is critical not only to understand how Aβ amyloids are controlled in vivo, but also to guide the design of novel Aβ-self association inhibitors. However, the current knowledge of the structures of the Aβ/Aβ binding protein complexes is still sparse. This thesis focuses mainly on the interaction of the Aβ peptide with Human Serum Albumin (HSA). It is known that HSA binds ~90% of the Aβ in human plasma and prevents the Aβ self-association into amyloid fibrils. However, the mechanism of Aβ self-association inhibition by albumin was not understood prior to our work. We have shown that albumin preferentially binds toxic Aβ oligomers and fibrils inhibiting their growth into larger Aβ assemblies through a “monomer competitor” mechanism. Using a combination of NMR, domain deletion mutants, dynamic light scattering and ultrafiltration we have investigated the stoichiomery and affinity of the Aβ oligomer: HSA complexes. Our results indicate that all three domains of HSA bind Aβ oligomers and fibrils with an affinity in the 1-100 nM range. Such binding site degeneracy explains how albumin minimizes competition by other ligands such as fatty acids and drugs. Moreover we have used the soluble and NMR suitable domain 3 of albumin to dissect further the determinants of the Aβ oligomer binding to albumin at subdomain and peptide resolution. We show that both subdomains of the HSA domain 3 (i.e. 3A and 3B) bind the Aβ oligomers. In addition, we identified a peptide sequence within subdomain 3B that displays significant potency in the inhibition of Aβ self-association.

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: Tay-Sachs Disease: Mechanisms of Neuropathology and Potential Therapeutic Strategies Utilizing Human Lysosomal Sialidase

contributor:
Igdoura, Suleiman
Biology

subject:
Tay-Sachs
sialidase
Sandhoff
therapy
lysosomal storage disorder
macrophage
Nervous System Diseases
Nervous System Diseases

abstract:
GM2 gangliosidoses encompass a group of chronic neurodegenerative disorders characterized by metabolic defects in ganglioside catabolism and marked intralysosomal accumulation of GM2 in central nervous system (CNS)-resident neurons. Included in this group are Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff disease. Human cases of Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff disease present with devastating neurological deterioration; however, murine models display drastically divergent phenotypes. Tay-Sachs mice avoid pathology via a sialidase-mediated bypass of β-hexosaminidase A (HEXA) deficiency, though the precise mechanism of avoidance is not fully elucidated. The following work aimed to: i) determine if the murine sialidase-mediated bypass could be potentiated in human cells, and ii) help clarify the mechanism of disease avoidance in Tay-Sachs animals.

Adenoviral overexpression of truncated CCAAT displacement protein (CDP831-1505) in human Tay-Sachs neuroglia augmented neuraminidase 1/lysosomal sialidase (NEU1) protein levels, which reduced intralysosomal GM2 accumulations. Chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed binding of CDP831-1505 to the human NEU1 promoter in Tay-Sachs neuroglia. These results provide mechanistic and functional evidence supporting therapeutic exploitation of NEU1 for Tay-Sachs disease.

Comparison of immunological responses of bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) to pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) or GM2 demonstrated that Sandhoff macrophages secrete increased TNF and reduced IL-10 following lipopolysaccharide stimulation. GM2 treatment failed to stimulate an immune response. Such behaviour occurred in the absence of clearly observable intralysosomal ganglioside accumulations. Altered LAMP2 protein size, potentially due to aberrant glycosylation, is hypothesized to disrupt autophagosomal/lysosomal fusion. Subsequent autophagosomal accumulation could result in inherent macrophage hypersensitivity and immunologic irritability. Downstream interleukin-10 (IL-10)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) axis, mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK), and glycogen synthase kinase 3-beta (GSK3β) signaling pathways were affected in Sandhoff BMDMs. These data indicate inherent differences in immunological responses of BMDMs from Sandhoff mice, presumably related to their β-hexosaminidase B (HEXB) deficiency.

Data presented here provides evidence to suggest a paradigm shift in the neurodegenerative model of Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff Diseases towards one that places immune cells as an initiating factor for widespread neuroinflammation.

abstract: Master of Science (MSc)


title: Impact of Commensal Intestinal Microbiota on Nervous System Development and Function

contributor: Medical Sciences (Neuroscience and Behavioral Science)

subject:
microbiota
enteric nervous system
behaviour
neurochemistry
stress
germ free mice
Medicine and Health Sciences
Medicine and Health Sciences

abstract: Commensal intestinal microbiota number in the realm of 1014 organisms per gram of colonic contents. This considerable bacterial load is acquired during birth and in the early postnatal days and has a defining, extensive impact on host physiology. We now have persuasive evidence that the intestinal microbiota influence the development of the nervous system. The following body of work describes alterations in the nervous system of germ free mice – mice bred and maintained with no exposure to bacteria of any kind. Here we examine diverse measures of neural activity, ranging from stress reactivity and stress-associated behaviours, to changes in neurochemistry of brain regions mutually involved in feeding and stress, to electrophysiological measures of sensory cells in the enteric nervous system. We see that in the absence of colonizing microbiota that neural activity is considerably altered both peripherally and centrally. Specifically, germ free mice exhibit a reduction in basal anxiety-like behaviour accompanied by consistent changes in mRNA gene expression of plasticity-related genes in brain tissue, lifelong reduction in circulating plasma leptin, increases in mRNA gene expression of hypothalamic leptin receptors and neuropeptide Y, and decreased excitability in sensory neurons in the myenteric plexus of the enteric nervous system. Furthermore, while it appears that central systems responsible for stress may have an early critical window for bacterial-induced change, it would seem that the peripheral enteric nervous system retains plasticity into adulthood. This novel work provides insight into the microbial-gut-brain axis and suggests potential avenues for therapies aimed at treating the frequently comorbid gastrointestinal and psychiatric illnesses.

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (Medical Science)


title: INJURED IMMIGRANT WOMEN WORKERS AND COMPENSATION POLICY

contributor:
Schormans, Ann Fudge
Sinding, Chris
Aronson, Jane
Social Work

subject:
social work
work-related injuries
immigrant women
institutional ethnography
Social Work
Social Work

abstract:
ABSTRACT

Annually, thousands of immigrant women employed in precarious low-paying jobs become more marginalized after experiencing work-related injuries because they cannot obtain just compensation from Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). In 1913 Sir William Meredith attempted to establish an equitable compensation system. Over the decades, and especially in the past 25 years, the influence of neoliberal forces has continued to create a system that resembles a market-based insurance model.

Using an institutional ethnographic approach, this research explicates how the policies of the WSIB are implicated in ruling relations. Four immigrant women who had experienced work-related injuries were interviewed. Their experiences of the problematic were mapped to the texts: the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, the New Experimental Experience Rating and Merit Adjusted Premium Programs, and WSIB’s Forms 6, 7 and 8.

The findings indicate that (a) work-related injuries have resulted in the immense social, emotional, moral, financial, and physical degradation of the participants; (b) an important relationship exists between the contents of the texts and the adverse experiences of the participants; (c) the texts influenced the ways that employers, WSIB service and health care providers, and legal professionals responded to the participants; and (d) the texts influenced the women’s experiences of the system and directed the actions that they had to take in very specific ways.

This study examined the experiences of this group of women about whose experiences of the system little is known. Although the information that they provided was strong and supported what is already known about how other groups of injured workers experience the system, the small sample size suggests that additional research with a larger sample size is warranted. Because the women’s employers were not interviewed, research on the influence of these texts on the experiences and actions of all stakeholders would add to our knowledge.

abstract: Master of Social Work (MSW)


title: Thermoendocrine Influences on the Duration of Mother-Litter Contact in the Norway Rat

contributor:
Leon, M.A.
Psychology

subject: Psychology Psychology

abstract:
During the first two weeks postpartum, the lactating Norway rat shows a gradual decline in the amount of time that she spends in contact with her litter. This decline results from a gradual decrease in the duration of individual nest bouts rather than in their frequency. This normal nesting pattern is disrupted following adrenalectomy-ovariectomy (Adex-Ovex) and prolactin suppression (Leon, Croskerry & Smith, 1978). Since the effects on nesting behaviour produced by these manipulations are accompanied by a decrease in maternal core temperature it has been suggested that the normally elevated core temperature of lactating dams renders them vulnerable to an acute rise in temperature during a nest bout and the dam terminates the nest bout to maintain her thermal homeostasis.

The purpose of this dissertation was to: 1) identify those hormones sufficient to maintain normal nest time; 2) determine the mode of action of those hormones and 3) determine the relative importance of thermal factors in limiting nest bout duration at different stages postpartum. Glucocorticoids were identified as sufficient adrenal factors to reinstate the normal nesting pattern and body temperature of Adex-Ovex dams. Moreover, hormone-replaced females had the normal, additional rise in temperature during Day 10 nest bouts, whereas Adex-Ovex females did not. These data not only support the notion that a rise in dam core temerature during a nest bout produces bouts of shorter duration but they also indicate that the elevated core temperature typical of lactating dams makes them vulnerable to the acute thermal effects of huddling.

Prolactin-suppressed dams show a halt in the decline in daily nest time in the second week postpartum which is accompanied by a reduction in material core temperature. It has been suggested that the effects of prolactin suppression, are mediated by a consequent depression in corticosterone levels, rather than a direct effect of the absence of prolactin (Leon, Groskerry & Smith 1978). Experiments described in this thesis show that, as predicted, corticosterone replacement in prolactin-suppressed dams reinstated a normal decline of daily nest time and increases their core temperature. However, corticosterone may act by compensating for some of the metabolic actions of prolactin, because prolactin-suppressed dams actually had increased levels of circulating corticosterone.

Reinstatement of material heat load by warming the maternal huddles reinstated normal patterns of nesting behaviour in Adex-Ovex and prolactin-suppressed dams. Indeed, warmed Adex-Ovex dams had an acute rise in core temperature during nest bouts, similar to that seen in intact dams.

The question of the relative importance of thermal cues in inducing nest bout termination at different stages postpartum was determined by comparing the changes in core temearature that dams experienced during nest bouts in the first and then the second week postpartum. Thermal factors played little role in limiting the nest bouts of Day 4 dams, but by Day 10, the percentage of nest bouts during which dams experienced a rise in core temperature had increased to 95%. Moreover, the rate of increase in material core temperature during a Day 10 nest bout was significantly greater than that experienced on Day 4.

The data obtained indicate 1) glucocorticoids plus prolactin are sufficient to maintain the normal pattern of nesting behaviour in the lactating rat; 2) hormonal influences on nest time are thermally mediated; 3) thermal factors increase their contribution to the limitation of mother-litter contact over the first two weeks postpartum such that they result in the gradual decline in daily nesting time that is typical of this species.

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: Bone Erosion Measurement in Subjects with Rheumatoid Arthritis Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging

contributor:
Gordon, Christopher
Medical Physics

subject: medical imaging

subject: magnetic resonance imaging

subject: rheumatoid arthritis

subject: bone erosion

subject: segmentation

subject: Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces

subject: Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing

subject: Other Physics

subject: Radiology

subject: Rheumatology

subject: Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces

abstract: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic disease that can affect the nervous system, lungs, heart, skin, reticuloendothelium and joints. Currently, the gold-standard measurement for tracking the progression of the disease involves a semi-quantitative assessment of bone erosion, bone marrow edema and synovitis, as seen in magnetic resonance (MR) images, by a musculoskeletal radiologist. The work presented in this thesis identifies how computer automation can be used to quantify bone erosion volumes in MR images without a radiologists' expert and time consuming intervention. A new semi-automated hybrid segmentation algorithm that combines two established techniques: region growing and level-set segmentation, is described and evaluated for use in a clinical setting. A total of 40 participants with RA were scanned using a 1-Tesla peripheral MR scanner. Eight of the participant scans were used to train the algorithm with the remaining used to determine the accuracy, precision, and speed of the technique. The reproducibility of the hybrid algorithm and that of manual segmentation were defined in terms of intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs). Both techniques were equally precise with ICC values greater than 0.9. According to a least squares fit between erosion volumes obtained by the hybrid algorithm with those obtained from manual tracings drawn by a radiologist, the former was found to be highly accurate ( m=1.030, b=1.385: r-squared=0.923). The hybrid algorithm was significantly faster than manual segmentation, which took two to four times longer to complete. In conclusion, computer automation shows promise as a means to quantitatively assess bone erosion volumes. The new hybrid segmentation algorithm described in this thesis could be used in a clinical setting to track the progression of RA and to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment.

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: DEVELOPMENT OF A TRANSPARENT AND DEFORMABLE TWO DIMENSIONAL RADIOCHROMIC GEL DOSIMETER

contributor:
Diamond, Kevin
Ostapiak, Orest
Wierzbicki, Marcin
Medical Physics

subject: Gel Dosimetry

subject: Radiochromic Dosimeter

subject: Radiotherapy

subject: Quality Assurance (QA) Leucomalachite Green (LMG)

subject: Poly(vinyl Alcohol) PVA

subject: Gelatin

subject: Micelle

subject: Two dimensional

subject: Medicine and Health Sciences

subject: Physics

subject: Medicine and Health Sciences

abstract:
Radiotherapy is used in many clinics to deliver a sufficient and uniform dose to the cancerous tumours while the dose to normal tissues is minimized. However, there is a possibility of missing the target volume due to patient set up/motion errors, or any fluctuation in treatment delivery. Therefore, accurate dose verification tools are essential to evaluate the delivered dose distribution of the designed treatment plan under realistic treatment conditions.

Current research is focused on developing 3D dose verification tools to record the complex dose distributions for quality assurance purposes and the evaluation of new treatment techniques. New and novel materials and read-out techniques suitable for use in hospitals are desirable. The objective of this research is to fabricate a transparent radiochromic gel dosimeter that may be used as quality assurance tool. Also, the fabricated gel must be analyzed using a simple optical read-out technique.

Gel dosimeters are gels that undergo some chemical changes upon irradiation as a function of absorbed dose. The absorbed dose may be recorded in three dimensions depending on the type of gel dosimeter. Radiochromic gels are dosimeters that change colour upon irradiation. A radiosensitive dye, leucomalachite green (LMG) is dissolved in a matrix material to record the dose distribution in 3D. LMG changes its colour upon irradiation, and has an absorbance band of 629nm.

In this research two different matrix materials were investigated: poly (vinyl alcohol) and gelatin. PVA was studied as the primary agent due to its adjustable mechanical strength and high transparency. PVA has also been studied to have a low diffusion rate when it was used as the matrix material in Fricke gel dosimeters [41]. Even though PVA had all the desired characteristics, fabricating a PVA based radiochromic dosimeter was not successful. Consequently, gelatin was used as the matrix material to fabricate a gelatin-based radiochromic dosimeter.

Using gelatin, highly transparent radiosensitive gels were successfully fabricated. The absorbencies of the irradiated gels were measured as a function of absorbed dose, using a 1D set up. After, the gels were formed into 5mm thick films and used as two-dimensional dose verification tools. The relationship between absorbance and absorbed dose for 1D measurement was obtained to be 0.00241± 0.00004 , and 0.0022 ± 0.00007 for 2D gels scaled to a thickness of 1 cm.

In all of the experiments the absorbance-dose relationships were similar in slopes, but there was an offset between different batches. The offset was 20% between the different experiments. Moreover, there was less than 5% error associated with the physical set up; the major source of error was due to the production and handling of the mixture, possibly due to the effects of inconsistent heating and UV light exposure.

The 2D gels were used to verify the dose distribution for the purpose of quality assurance. Six different complicated beams were delivered to the gels and their dose distributions were compared to their respective Pinnacle Calculated Planar (PCP) dose maps. The difference was found to be about 35% at worst; however, this error may be reduced by utilizing more sophisticated data processing methods. Nevertheless, the images were quite similar above 20Gy. Furthermore, the dose distributions recorded by the gels are qualitatively and quantitatively similar to the (PCP) dose map. Although the fabricated gel dosimeters show some promise as future tools for quality assurance purposes, they must go through many more stages of research to be used clinically.

abstract: Master of Science (MSc)


title: An episodic view of priming effects in efficient visual search

contributor:
Milliken, Bruce
Psychology

subject:
attention
memory
performance
priming
visual search
Cognition and Perception
Cognition and Perception

abstract: Cognitive psychologists have long known that there are limitations on human information processing abilities. As such we must constantly attend to relevant information in our environment, sometimes for further processing, at the expense of other information. Visual search tasks have been used extensively by researchers who seek to understand the consequences that this selective attention process has on memory. It has been argued that the priming effects observed in efficient visual search tasks reflect specialized, short-term memory representations that differ markedly from the memory representations believed to produce priming effects in other performance tasks. To the extent that this is true, researchers must adopt a necessary level of complexity in terms of the memory models used to explain the full range of human behavior. The empirical goal of this thesis was to provide a rigorous examination of priming effects in efficient visual search, in order to determine whether such effects can be explained by reference to general, well-studied memory mechanisms that have yielded significant explanatory power in other attention and performance tasks. The results of the experiments reported here suggest that general, well-studied memory principles may be a suitable candidate explanation for priming effects in efficient visual search.

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: Suffering, Well-Being and Moral Consideration

contributor:
Igneski, Violetta
Sciaraffa, Stefan
Doubleday, Nancy
Philosophy

subject:
suffering
well-being
moral reasoning
pain
Ethics and Political Philosophy
Ethics and Political Philosophy

abstract: Suffering is often awarded a prominent place in many conceptions of ethics as a consideration worthy of moral concern. This is done however, without a thorough understanding of what suffering is, or why suffering is morally significant, as full accounts of the nature and moral significance of suffering are few and far between. Our attention in this project is on elucidating what suffering is, and why it is morally significant, as well as understanding suffering’s complex relationship to well-being. Additionally, we also utilize what has been established about suffering to begin to understand and outline what the ramifications of treating suffering as a separate consideration might be for morality.

abstract: Master of Philosophy (MA)


title: Factors that influence the use of an Aboriginal early learning drop-in centre by carers of urban Aboriginal children as perceived by service providers of the service, users of the service, and non-users of the service: A pilot study

contributor: Clinical Health Sciences (Health Research Methodology)

subject:
pilot study
qualitative description
urban aboriginal children
access
early learning services
family drop-in centre
Other Public Health
Other Public Health

abstract:
Background – Universal family drop-in centres (drop-ins) are open to all children between the ages of zero and six and their carers regardless of ethnoracial make up and socioeconomic status. Provincially-funded drop-in centres offered by Aboriginal organizations address the need for culturally sensitive services for urban Aboriginal children (UAC) meanwhile promoting early learning opportunities for all children. Knowledge of factors that influence Aboriginal carers’ use of a culturally sensitive drop-in centre will inform policy-makers about the structures and resources required to ensure equitable access to drop-in centres for UAC.

Objectives – A pilot study to: 1) assess the feasibility of identifying and recruiting UAC with children between the ages of zero and six for optimal identification of the population in need of services; 2) describe the factors that influence the use of an Aboriginal early learning drop-in centre by carers of UAC between the ages of zero and six as perceived by service providers, users of the service, and non-users.

Methods – A qualitative descriptive study was conducted. A purposeful sample of 12 participants was selected. All service providers were invited to participate. Snowball sampling was used for users; convenience sampling was used for non-users. Semi-structured interviews with all participants were used to collect data. Directed content analysis was used with the Availability-Affordability-Acceptability framework for access to services to analyze interview data. Interviews between groups were compared and contrasted to confirm findings. During the research process, field notes of observations and reflections were recorded to address feasibility issues.

Results – Of the 12 eligible carers approached, 10 carers consented. Of the ten, nine carers were interviewed (4 users; 5 non-users). Recommendations for large-scale study protocol were: use of three categories of carers (current users; previous users; non-users); include non-Aboriginal carers of UAC in the sample population; recruit carers who live in the same neighbourhood where the service is located; provide detailed instructions for recruitment to gatekeepers. Key findings of the factors influencing use of the service were proximity of service to carer’s home, the carer and child having unstructured time, the type of Aboriginal-based content offered at the service, the carer’s trust of service providers, presence of social support, and carer’s sense of safety.

Conclusions – This pilot study suggests that conducting a large-scale study to identify factors that influence the use of an Aboriginal-based universal family drop-in centre as perceived by carers of urban Aboriginal children and service providers of the service is feasible with some methodological modifications. Recommendations for change are outlined.

abstract: Master of Science (MSc)


title: THE MOUNTAINS AND ROCKS ARE FOREVER: LITHICS AND LANDSCAPES OF SKWXWÚ7MESH UXWUMIXW

contributor:
Cannon, Aubrey
Michelaki, Kostalena
Nicks, Trudy
Anthropology

subject:
Indigenous Archaeology
Northwest Coast
Landscape
Lithics
Oral History
Geochemistry
Archaeological Anthropology
Cultural History
Folklore
Geochemistry
Native American Studies
Archaeological Anthropology

abstract:
This dissertation contributes to Indigenous archaeology, particularly along the Northwest Coast, the Coast Salish region and the territory of the Squamish Nation. I examine the regional archaeological sequence and provide an Indigenous perspective of time and space of Squamish Nation territory. Closer examination of this region’s archaeological record focuses on the occurrence of suitable igneous tool stone sources and their use over the past 10,000 years. A full understanding of these lithic sources comes from three different perspectives Squamish Nation culture, the archaeological and geological records.

I propose that lithic sources are important places of the Squamish Nation cultural landscape and that the distributions of certain material types is linked to Squamish Nation place names and oral histories. Expanding this concept outward, I consider the distribution of the occurrence of these materials from 25 archaeological sites ranging from sea level ocean shore to mountainous alpine contexts. I then examine lithic source materials and artifacts from these sites on a visual and chemical basis (X-Ray Fluorescence) to illustrate the varying importance of certain lithic materials across Squamish Nation territory. Resulting analysis demonstrates that these materials have varying spatial and temporal distributions that relate to predominant themes of Squamish Nation oral history, concepts of Transformation and Mythical Beings. Material distributions, place names, oral history related to the region’s archaeological record are discussed under different theoretical frameworks of the Northwest Coast building from culture history, processual, post processual, and humanist perspectives cumulating at a Indigenous perspective of lithic sources and flaked stone artifact distributions.

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: Dendrimer Crosslinked Collagen Gels Modified with Extracellular Matrix Components

contributor:
Sheardown, Heather
Chemical Engineering

subject:
Dendrimer
Collagen
Heparin
Heparin-binding Epidermal Growth Factor
Epidermal Growth Factor
Growth Factor Delivery
Biomaterials
Biomaterials

abstract:
Collagen crosslinking with a polypropyleneimine octaamine dendrimers, via carbodiimide chemistry, was further exploited to demonstrate the ability of this technology for various tissue engineering strategies, including tissue engineered corneal equivalents (TECE) and blood-contacting biomaterials. In addition, modification with extracellular matrix components and other biomimetic molecules may enhance tissue-host interactions for greater in vivo compatibility.

First, the efficacy of the dendrimer crosslinking technology was further validated with commercially available collagen-based materials, from bovine or human sources (Chapter 4: Paper 1), as determined via transmittance, water uptake, differential scanning calorimetry, collagenase stability and in vitro cell compatibility. Despite gel formation, the matrix integrity was compromised with collagen-based materials manufactured under acidic conditions and purified via freeze-drying.

To continue the theme of dendrimer crosslinked collagen gels as TECE materials, growth factor incorporation was investigated with epidermal growth factor (EGF) and heparin-binding EGF (HB-EGF), as a method for improving device epithelialization and subsequent host integration. However, given the short half lives of these growth factors, an effective growth factor delivery system is necessary to protect growth factor bioactivity. As heparan sulphate proteoglycans sequester and release heparin-binding growth factors in vivo, the use of heparinized dendrimer crosslinked collagen (CHG) gels for HB-EGF delivery would provide prolonged, controlled delivery, while maintaining growth factor effectiveness (Chapter 5: Paper 2). HB-EGF release was prolonged and capable of inducing human cornea epithelial cell (HCEC) proliferation. Thus, HB-EGF delivery from CHG gels could aid in TECE device retention through enhanced device-host integration via epithelialization.

Alternatively, tethering EGF or HB-EGF to dendrimer crosslinked collagen (CG) gels could also supply growth factor stimulation in a manner that maintains bioactivity, while stimulating growth factor receptors continually with minute concentrations (Chapter 6: Paper 3). Growth factor uptake and bioactivity was assessed with radiolabeled growth factor and through in vitro epithelial cell culture, respectively. Surface-modification of CG gels with growth factors demonstrated greater bioactivity, compared to growth factor bulk-modification of CG gels.

Finally, dendrimer crosslinked collagen gels, with pre-activated heparin (PH gels) were investigated as a tissue engineered blood-contacting biomaterial (Chapter 7: Paper 4), as we hypothesized that biomaterial induced coagulation is not only influenced by an anticoagulant surface, but also by the underlying material and that improved blood-biomaterial interactions may be achieved by utilizing a natural polymer that emulates biomimetic properties. Pre-activation of heparin was utilized to increase heparin gel content, while antithrombotic properties were evaluated via antithrombin and fibrinogen adsorption and plasma recalcification times. PH gels had increased heparinization, but extensive crosslinking compromised antithrombin-heparin interactions, compared to CHG gels. CHG gels demonstrated improved antithrombotic properties and further evaluation of these gels for blood-contacting applications is warranted.

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE FORMATION OF RAINBOW TROUT (ONCORHYNCHUS MYKISS) SOCIAL HIERARCHIES AND POSSIBLE HIERARCHICAL DISRUPTION BY AN ENVIRONMENTAL PERTURBATION

contributor:
Wood, Chris M.
Quinn, James S.
Biology

subject:
Social hierarchies
behaviour
rainbow trout
non-invasive
ammonia
Physiology
Physiology

abstract:
Salmonids, such as rainbow trout, form social hierarchies, consisting of dominant and subordinate individuals, when in groups in environments with limiting resources, such as space or food. There were two main objectives for this thesis: to investigate the physiological consequences of being in a social hierarchy as well as to investigate whether grouped social status or individual behaviour most accurately recorded physiological data for a hierarchy and secondly, to investigate the behavioural and physiological changes of groups of rainbow trout exposed to ammonia concentrations which are above chronic protected guidelines.

To create social hierarchies, groups of four fish were fed by a new method using a darkened feeding container, twice daily (morning and evening) for eight days. Each morning feeding was videotaped in order to record aggressive behaviour. Each aggressive act was scored, allowing for fish to be assigned a social status. For ammonia exposures, groups of fish were exposed to either 700, 1200 and 1500 µM total ammonia (or 2.97, 5.10, 6.37 µM NH3, respectively) 24 hours before first feeding and these concentrations were maintained throughout the experiment. On day 5 and day 10, physiological parameters were taken in fish fasted for 24-h in control and 700 µM total ammonia exposed hierarchies.

Social hierarchies were created in all ammonia-free and 700 µM total ammonia groups, with no hierarchies formed in 1200 and 1500 µM total ammonia groups. In M.Sc. Thesis – Josias (Si) Grobler McMaster University – Department of Biology iv ammonia-free hierarchies, one fish would become dominant, while the three subordinate individuals would each assume a stable social rank and display similar physiology which was different from the dominant fish.

Fish from the 700 µM total ammonia group showed reductions in various physiological parameters during period 1, however, these fish displayed similar values as what was reported in ammonia-free hierarchies during period 2. This suggests biochemical or physiological changes occurring in these fish in order to acclimate to the high ammonia environment

abstract: Master of Science (MSc)


title: Investigation of the interaction of multimerin 1 with components of prothrombinase, in vitro

contributor:
M., Catherine P.
Medical Sciences

abstract: Prothrombinase is an enzymatic complex that accelerates the conversion of prothrombin to thrombin for efficient blood clot formation at sites of vessel injury. Prothrombinase consists of the enzyme factor Xa and its cofactor factor Va, assembled on a phosphatidyl serine-containing membrane, in the presence of calcium. Multimerin 1 (MMRN1) is a polymeric, factor V/Va-, prothrombin-, and phosphatidyl serine-binding protein that is stored in platelet and endothelial cell secretion granules. When released, MMRN1 binds to their cell surface and to the extracellular matrix. Unlike plasma factor Va, platelet factor Va is stored complexed to MMRN1 in platelet α-granules, and is resistant to inactivation by activated protein C (APC). Previous studies revealed that exogenous MMRN1 inhibits thrombin generation in plasma. My thesis investigated the interaction of MMRN1 with components of prothrombinase in order to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which MMRN1 modulates coagulation. ELISA binding assays that used prothrombin derivatives revealed that the prothrombin gamma-carboxyglutamic acid and kringle domains have potential MMRN1 binding sites. Thrombin generation assays that used purified proteins and/or phospholipid vesicles revealed that MMRN1 inhibits thrombin generation in the presence and absence of factor Va, but not in the absence of phospholipid vesicles. These findings suggest that MMRN1 inhibits phospholipid-dependent thrombin generation through its interactions with factor Va and prothrombin. MMRN1 did not affect APC-mediated loss of factor Va, which suggest other post-translational modifications in platelet factor Va account for its increased APC resistance. In thrombin generation assays with plasma, immobilized MMRN1 captured factor V/Va of human and mouse origin for subsequent thrombin generation, consistent with preservation of function that could be important for localizing factor V/Va for prothrombinase assembly. Collectively, these findings suggest that MMRN1 has a dual role in coagulation: as an inhibitor in fluid phase, and as a promoter when immobilized.

abstract: Master of Science (MSc)


title: Rounders or Robin Hoods? Questioning the Role of the Ticket Scalper in Urban Marketplace Activity

contributor:
Donnelly, Peter
Sociology

subject: Sociology Sociology

abstract:
Given the long-standing sociological tradition of studying marginal or fringe subcultures, I am surprised that sociologists have not investigated the social life world of ticket scalpers. Until this research, no sociologist has attempted to ascertain an understanding of what ticket scalpers actually do in the "here and now" of everyday life. Therefore, given the lack of attention directed toward ticket scalpers or ticket scalping, this study is intended to provide the sociological discourse with some preliminary insights into the lived experience of ticket scalpers.

This research is theoretically grounded in the symbolic interactionist tradition and the cultural studies movement. Blending the central tenets of Blumerian interactionism (Blumer, 1969) with the critical approach of cultural studies, this thesis addresses the social conceptions of ticket scalping and ticket scalpers. Using ethnographic data collection methods including interviewing, participant observation, field observation, and content analysis, the research spanned a twelve-month period. Centrally, the field research efforts were orchestrated around ticket scalpers and their clientele while other groups such as the police, venue and league security, and members of corporations including Ticketmaster and promotional tour companies were also interviewed to provide insight and opinion on the social activity of ticket scalping.

Several principal questions are debated through the presentation of the data that seek to define, examine, and challenge the social conceptions of ticket scalping. Where does the process come from, and how does it continue to exist? How does the ticket scalping process actually occur as an emergent economic transaction? What role do agents of social control play in the process, and who are these agents? How different or similar are ticket scalpers from the so-called "legitimate" institutions of ticket distribution? This thesis is not intended to provide all the answers to these questions, rather it introduces sociologists to the nature of the ticket scalping process around these central debates.

abstract: Master of Arts (MA)


title: Chaucer the Love Poet: A Study in Historical Criticism

contributor:
Wood, Chauncey
English

subject:
English Language and Literature
English Language and Literature

abstract:
This thesis is an historically based inquiry into the aesthetic function and moral significance of the themes of marriage, fornication, and adultery in Chaucer's poetry about sexual love. Its first aim is to construct a philosophic and historical framework within which to study Chaucer as a love poet and thereby to help dispel the common but fallacious idea that Chaucer's poetic compositions on the subject of love are archetypally and thematically similar to those of the romantic poets of the nineteenth-century. Chaucer's attitude toward love is interpreted as a composite product of the influences of Ovid, St. Augustine, and the Christian Church of the Middle Ages and is shown to be morally incompatible with the idea, popular in the romantic literature of another era, that the world is well lost for love.

The first chapter of the thesis is mainly devoted to an investigation of the salient differences between Chaucer's conception of love, which is in essence abstract moral, and impersonal, and the romantic conception, which tends to be emotional, amoral and highly subjective. This chapter describes the intellectual background of the distinctively medieval traditions of cosmological love, married love, and Ovidian love and attempts to interpret the influence of these traditions on the mind and art of Chaucer.

After the first chapter, the focus of discussion becomes much narrower, and descriptive treatment of the history of ideas gives way to close analysis of specific cruxes in love poems like Troilus and Criseyde, the Knight's Tale, and the Parliament of Fowls. These cruxes, which included the problematic function of Chaucer's various apostrophes and invoations to Venus, and the complex moral relationship of Venus to Nature, are examined for their relevance to the question of how Chaucer actually views erotic passion in his great love poetry. The conclusion reached in the second chapter is that the various cruxes treated here can all be resolved by showing that Chaucer consistently subscribes to Augustinian doctrines of nature, grace, and sexual morality.

The third and last chapter of the thesis departs from the conceptual approach to love taken in the previous two in that it adopts a more formalistic and aesthetically orientated mode of criticism. However, this chapter, like the preceding one, concentrates on the elucidation of cruxes and supports its generalizations about Chaucer's artistry through close analysis and attention to poetic detail. Chapter 3 deals solely with Troilus and Criseyde, analyzing the concept of "love as an art" to which the poem repeatedly alludes; interpreting dynamics of response in the poem's audience; and discussing the metaphoric association of verbal prevarication with amorous enslavement in the behaviour of Troilus, Criseyde, and Pandarus. The general conclusion of this chapter, as of the others, is that Chaucer was unquestionably a man of his time -- an orthodox member of the Church and a firm follower of the teachings of St. Augustine in matters of art as in ethics.

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: Class Action: Class, Politics and Union Activists in Alberta

contributor:
Lewchuk, Wayne
Work and Society

subject: Work and Society

abstract: This study explores the link between class and political activism by examining the union and political participation of union activists in Alberta. Through a survey and selected in depth interviews, the study finds union activists are more politically active than average Canadians. It arrives at three core conclusions. First, union activists who possess a relational sense of class consciousness are more likely to engage in political activity. This class consciousness is formed and articulated out of lived experience, rather than intellectual understanding, and can be seen as an expression of a "culture of solidarity". Second, union activists experience a perceptible class divide separating them from middle class institutions of the political system. This divide can inhibit political participation. Union activists who cross the divide into middle class politics can be seen as "bridge builders", linking working class activists with middle class political culture. Third, unions can play an important role in fostering political activism among their members. Unions can influence the decision to act politically through concrete local action and framing the nature of union work in a class relational fashion. Recommendations for union strategies are offered, as well as suggestions for revitalizing progressive political organizations.

abstract: Master of Arts (MA)


title: The Canadian State and Aboriginal Land Claims: Temagami in an Institutional Perspective

contributor:
Coleman, William D.
Political Science

subject:
Political Science
Political Science

abstract: This thesis uses the land claim of the Teme-Augama Anishnabai in Northern Ontario to explain why some land claims endure over decades with no apparent solution in sight. A neo-institutionalist framework, drawing heavily on the work of March and Olsen, focuses the study on the institutions of the Canadian state and the decision-making processes contained therein. Realizing that adjudication and negotiation represent two very distinct decision-making processes, the thesis explains why each process has been unable to effectively deal with some aboriginal land claims. To help explain these failures, the concept of cultural imprint is introduced. Cultural imprint refers to the values that a particular culture may imbue into institutions. This thesis also recognizes that comprehensive land claims (a claim based on aboriginal title) constitute a unique demand on institutions. Such claims suggest that a consensual relationship between aboriginal peoples and non-aboriginal society does not exist. Thus comprehensive land claims are interpreted as exogenous demands on the state. In this context adjudication is concluded to be an inherently inferior process when it is confronted with comprehensive land claims. Although negotiation is considered to be the more desirable process, the current structure of the negotiation process is completely inadequate in Canada. The thesis concludes that some land claims will not be resolved until an improved negotiation process, where aboriginal peoples can bargain as equals, is established.

abstract: Master of Arts (MA)


title: Sino-Soviet Boundary Dispute in the 1970s

contributor:
Potichnyj, Peter J.
Political Science

subject:
Political Science
Political Science

abstract:
The main aim of this thesis is to assess the nature and the development of the boundary dispute between China and the Soviet Union in the 1970s. Dealing with the historical, military, diplomatic and academic aspects of the dispute, it attempts to illuminate the linkages between national interests and ideological inclination and the effect of the conflict on the overall relations between the two great powers.

It examines in a systematic way the Sino-Soviet border negotiations and outlines both the political rationalizations and the bargaining positions of the two sides. A special section is devoted to the "disputed areas" along the Sino-Soviet border, and three maps prepared by the Chinese scholars regarding boundary changes between the two countries are presented. In the author's opinion, the frontier conflict is the most important issue that continue to undermine relations between China and the Soviet Union.

abstract: Master of Arts (MA)


title: On their own terms: Health Perceptions of Urban Native People

contributor:
Warry, Wayne
Anthropology

subject: Anthropology Anthropology

abstract:
Cultural differences between Native patients and non-Native health practitioners lead to misunderstanding and miscommunication in the clinical milieu. This applied anthropology study provides information which can lessen this problem. It is an investigation health perceptions, as described by a diverse group of Native people living in Hamilton, Ontario.

Four major themes emerged from open-ended questions covering a wide range of health topics. The first is the meaning which informants attribute to health, and how this contrasts with the traditional view and that expressed by non-Native people. The second is the role of a identity in creating and maintaining good health. The third is people's experience with mainstreams health care practitioners and, in some cases, with traditional healers, and how differing styles of communication and guidance impinge on health promotion. The final theme involves people's feelings about freedom and control, and notes how the course of history as well as Native ethics affect their perception of "personal control". Some alternative ways to conceptualize health promotion strategies are offered. I also suggest a link between individual health, community well-being and community self-determination.

The study combines elements of interpretive and critical anthropology and psychological theory with descriptive data derived from questionnaires and unstructured interviews. I conclude with suggestions as to how the health of this population could be optimized by three approaches - that offered by mainstream health care providers , by Native community organizations, and by the society itself.

abstract: Master of Arts (MA)


title: Study of Nickeliferrous Laterite Reduction

contributor:
Coley, K.S.
Materials Science and Engineering

abstract: Laterite is an important resource for the production of nickel. Pre-reduction of laterite is a critical step for all laterite based nickel production processes. The main kinds oflaterite, limonitic and serpentinic ore, behave differently upon reduction. In this study, general knowledge of laterites and nickel production were introduced. Research on laterite pre-reduction was reviewed. Using the compositions of two of laterite samples received from INCO Ltd, a thermodynamic study was carried out using F*A*C*T (Facility for the Analysis of Chemical Thermodynamics, a thermodynamic software). Several graphs were plotted based on the theoretical calculation to predict nickel recovery and final nickel grade in the metallic phases for reduction at different temperatures with varied ratios of CO/C02• A series of reduction experiments was done using CO/C02 to examine reduction behaviour of Sample D, a serpentinic laterite supplied by INCO. The effect of calcination time, temperature, reducing potential and other parameters were studied and discussed. The reduction mechanism and mineral phase change during reduction process were investigated using X-ray diffraction. This showed that with the serpentinic laterite studied here there was a temperature range, 700-800 °c, where serpentine had decomposed but not crystallized to form the high temperature phase. This resulted in a highly reducible ore. Optimum reducing conditions to maximize nickel recovery have been proposed for operation in this temperature range. Partially reduced laterite pellets were chemically analysed. The data was subjected to kinetic study by using the Grain Model. This yielded detailed knowledge about gas diffusion through the solid matrix. Various reducing gas properties and other necessary parameters of the Grain Model were estimated. Some kinetic data were finally obtained.

abstract: Master of Engineering (ME)


title: "Walking balanced": Culturally Centred Aboriginal Education

contributor:
Lee, Bill
Analysis of Social Welfare Policy

subject:
Social Work
Social Work

abstract: Utilizing an interpretive/feminist qualitative framework and consulting a wide array of Aboriginal education literature, this thesis seeks to explore the issue of culturally centred education for Aboriginal people as a relevant learning tool and ultimately a vehicle for self-determination and decolonization on a more global scale. While recognizing and respecting the vast diversity in Aboriginal people, the foundation is set for understanding the Aboriginal peoples' experiences by illustrating some of the historical and contemporary policy directions and decisions around education. Then through an examination of the wide body of literature, what it is that Aboriginal people need in order to benefit from education is explored. How is education to be made, not only culturally sensitive, but culturally- centred? Next a review and discussion of the thoughts and stories provided by the participants from two culturally centred educational programs is considered followed by a review of the broader implications of culturally centred education with an emphasis on self-determination and decolonization. Finally, in consultation with the literature and the words of the participants, eight recommendations for more relevant Aboriginal education are proposed.

abstract: Master of Social Work (MSW)


title: The WeIland Canal and Canadian Development

contributor:
Levitt, Cyril
Sociology

subject: Sociology Sociology

abstract: A study of the Welland Canal Company in the years 1823 to 1833, and its implications for Canadian development. The role of the entrepreneur is emphasized, and this, it is argued, is the major force in economic development. The ethnic and geographic origin of the workers is examined, along with the conditions of work and the ways in which they are controlled. The division between industrial and financial capital that exists in Canadian today is, it is argued, one of the by-products of the way in which the Welland Canal was organized and financed.

abstract: Master of Arts (MA)


title: The Boresma Site: A MIddle Woodland Basecamp In the Thames River Valley

contributor:
Ramsden, P.G.
Anthropology

subject: Anthropology Anthropology

abstract:
In this report I discuss the excavation and analysis of the Boresma site (AfHi-121), a large Middle Woodland occupation located on the Thames River floodplain near Delaware Ontario. Rather than a spring/early summer macro-band fishing station, the Boresma site appears to have functioned as a base camp, occupied on and off throughout the year, providing the focal point for a local group's movements.

The location of the Boresma site along the proposed boundary between the Couture and Saugeen complexes also allows some observations concerning the utility of these large culture complex labels. At present, labels such as Saugeen have come to be used as rubrics for real sociopolitical groups. I suggest that they should be restricted to use as labels for areas where similar patterns of settlement and subsistence can be demonstrated. On this basis I present revised margins for the Saugeen complex, and propose a new term. the Middle Thames River complex. for the Middle Woodland occupations along the middle reaches of the Thames drainage.

abstract: Master of Arts (MA)


title: Case Study ofa Flextime Policy: Reactions and Responses to Flexible Working Hours Among McMaster University Library Employees

contributor:
Sugiman, Pamela
Sociology

subject: Sociology Sociology

abstract: This thesis is a case study of the flextime policy at McMaster University, which has been in formal use since the spring of 1981. It is a qualitative study based on the examination of written documents and interviews with thirty-four respondents, thirty-one who are University library employees working according to the policy. The other three respondents are individuals who have in the past been, or are presently, involved in developing, implementing, and/or administering the policy. Because the majority of existing studies on flextime are based on quantitative research methods, it is a goal of this thesis is to take a qualitative approach, more specifically a grounded theory approach, and analyze issues related to flextime as they arise out of the data. The researcher chose the University libraries as the setting in which to examine flextime work schedules for two central reasons. First, the majority of the employees are female and are employed in nonprofessional, white-collar positions. The relevance is that such employees are one of the two main groups of workers most likely to have access to flextime. Second, the setting includes individuals at various points in the life cycle who thus have different needs and expectations of the workplace. Therefore it may be possible to apply the findings from this setting to other workplaces and employees. Numerous documents were explored and three individuals were interviewed in order to explore the history and logistics behind the flextime policy. The interviews provided information pertaining to when, how, and why the policy was introduced, as well as valuable insight as to how it is presently administered. Thirty-one employees were interviewed in order to gain an understanding as to how flextime affects both their paid and their domestic work lives. For the majority of the employees, one of the main advantages of flextime is that attempting to combine paid work and domestic responsibilities is made somewhat easier and less stressful. Interestingly, although there are a number of factors which actually limit the extent to which employees can use their flextime privileges, many of them reported that flextime never-the-less gives them a feeling of added control. The researcher suggests however, that these feelings are related more to the additional control they experience over the scheduling of factors in their personal lives, as opposed to additional control over their paid work.

abstract: Master of Arts (MA)