title: Using Discrete-Event Systems for the Automatic Generation of Concurrency Control for Dynamic Threads

contributor:
Dingel, Juergen
Rudie, Karen
Computing

subject:
software
discrete event systems
concurrency
modelling

abstract: Thesis (Master, Computing) -- Queen's University, 2010-05-27 17:00:15.99

abstract: The application of Discrete-Event Systems (DES) theory to the problem of guar- anteeably enforcing concurrency constraints in multi-threaded applications has been studied under certain assumptions, namely, the assumption of a static pool of pre- existing instantiated threads, whose creation and termination are not modelled. This work proposes an extension of this case to handle dynamically instantiated and termi- nated threads using a Petri net formalism and an online limited-lookahead state-space search technique.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Enabling Large-Scale Mining Software Repositories (MSR) Studies Using Web-Scale Platforms

contributor:
Hassan, Ahmed E.
Computing

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

subject:
Software Engineering
Mining Software Repositories
MapReduce
Hadoop
Pig

abstract: Thesis (Master, Computing) -- Queen's University, 2010-05-28 00:37:19.443

abstract: The Mining Software Repositories (MSR) field analyzes software data to uncover knowledge and assist software developments. Software projects and products continue to grow in size and complexity. In-depth analysis of these large systems and their evolution is needed to better understand the characteristics of such large-scale systems and projects. However, classical software analysis platforms (e.g., Prolog-like, SQL-like, or specialized programming scripts) face many challenges when performing large-scale MSR studies. Such software platforms rarely scale easily out of the box. Instead, they often require analysis-specific one-time ad hoc scaling tricks and designs that are not reusable for other types of analysis and that are costly to maintain. We believe that the web community has faced many of the scaling challenges facing the software engineering community, as they cope with the enormous growth of the web data. In this thesis, we report on our experience in using MapReduce and Pig, two web-scale platforms, to perform large MSR studies. Through our case studies, we carefully demonstrate the benefits and challenges of using web platforms to prepare (i.e., Extract, Transform, and Load, ETL) software data for further analysis. The results of our studies show that: 1) web-scale platforms provide an effective and efficient platform for large-scale MSR studies; 2) many of the web community’s guidelines for using web-scale platforms must be modified to achieve the optimal performance for large-scale MSR studies. This thesis will help other software engineering researchers who want to scale their studies.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Comparing Employment Relations in a Cross-Border Region: the Case of Cascadia's Forest Products Industry

contributor:
Holmes, John
Geography

subject:
Cross-Border Regions
Economic Geography
Employment Relations
Forest Products
Cascadia
British Columbia
Pacific Northwest
Pulp and Paper
Logging
Lumber

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Geography) -- Queen's University, 2010-05-28 11:48:30.745

abstract:
In North America, deepening economic integration under free trade has led to the formation of several cross-border regions between Canada and the United States and such regions have become a significant focus for public policy research in Canada. A key question is whether, as a result of increased economic integration, there are tendencies towards policy and institutional convergence within cross-border regions; especially in areas viewed as critical in determining competitive economic advantage. One such area is employment relations.  However, relatively little research has focused on how, or even if, employment relations are changing within cross-border regions.
Previous studies comparing differences and similarities in employment relations between Canada and the United States have tended to focus on one of three scales: the nation, the firm, or the individual workplace. Here, the focus is on employment relations within a cross-border region. Such regions often share similar economic and social characteristics.  Thus, we might expect that if cross-national employment relations are becoming more similar due to deepening economic integration this would manifest most clearly at this scale.
The empirical focus is the forest products industry in the cross-border region of Cascadia, comprised of British Columbia, Washington state, and Oregon. Employment relations are compared across three components of the forest products industry: pulp and paper, solid wood processing, and logging. Data are organized around case studies of each component and focus on employment, wages, and productivity; the restructuring of firms and ownership; the labour movement; work practices, training, and the reproduction of the labour force. The dissertation concludes that employment relations in the pulp and paper and logging industries in Cascadia are becoming more similar cross-nationally, while those in solid wood processing are increasingly differentiated cross-nationally. Moreover, it concludes that employment relations in British Columbia’s solid wood processing and pulp and paper industry are becoming more similar, while employment relations in the PNW solid wood processing and pulp and paper industries are increasingly differentiated.  The dissertation contributes to broader debates in economic geography by examining the tensions between national and sub-national political economic actors contribute to the production of scale and territory.

abstract: PhD


title: A diatom-based paleolimnological investigation of historical water-quality and ecological changes in the Lake of the Woods, Ontario

contributor:
Smol, John P.
Biology

subject:
Paleolimnology
Diatoms
Lake of the Woods
Water Quality
Phosphorus
Climate

abstract: Thesis (Master, Biology) -- Queen's University, 2010-05-28 13:38:59.472

abstract: A two-part paleolimnological study was conducted to examine changes in historical and modern water-quality in Lake of the Woods (LoW) in response to multiple stressors, such as climate change and shoreline residential development. Changes in diatom assemblages were analyzed in the modern and pre-industrial sediment intervals of 17 study sites, and in high-resolution 210Pb-dated sedimentary records from three northwestern bays (Clearwater, Poplar, and White Partridge bays). Patterns in diatom assemblage changes revealed pronounced and synchronous shifts over the last ca. 150 years. The most notable shift in the diatom community structure (~1970 AD) was characterized by an overall shift towards a higher relative abundance of small, centric Cyclotella taxa and planktonic, pennate diatoms (e.g., Asterionella formosa, Fragilaria crotonensis), and a corresponding lower relative abundance of heavily silicified Aulacoseira taxa and small benthic Fragilaria taxa and Achnanthes taxa. Lakewater total phosphorus (TP) concentrations were inferred from sedimentary diatom assemblages. DI-TP reconstructions revealed either no change or a decline in DI-TP since pre-industrial (pre-1850) times at majority (88%) of the top-bottom study sites, and no distinct directional change over the past ca. 150 years at the northwestern bays. Therefore, we concluded that TP was not an important driver of the floristic changes we observed. Chl-a trends indicate that primary production increased during the last ca. 100 years, likely tracking increases in microbial blooms. Changes in diatom assemblage composition and primary productivity have occurred during a period of substantial warming for this region of northwestern Ontario. Strong correlations (r >0.50, p<0.005) between diatom compositional changes, chl-a trends, and local air temperature records and lake-ice phenology suggest that climate-induced changes in lakewater properties may have been key factors driving the observed changes. From these data, we conclude that climate warming, rather than changing shoreline development and TP changes, has had the most pronounced effect on algal communities in the LoW. Estimates of pre-impact lake trophic status can aid in setting realistic mitigation targets for lakes impacted by multiple stressors. Therefore, paleolimnological studies comparing pre- and post-disturbance algal assemblages, such as the investigations we have conducted, are of interest from a lake management perspective.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Losing Touch: The Early School Leaving of Four Young Portuguese-Canadian Men

contributor:
Myers, Marie J.
Education

subject:
Early school leaving
At-risk
Secondary school
Youth

abstract: Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2010-05-29 09:54:48.856

abstract:
Early school leaving continues to be an issue that garners much attention from administrators, educators, and academics. In this study I review the existing literature on risk factors relating to early school leaving while examining the role of social context on educational aspirations and expectations.  Research findings (Alberta Learning, 2001; Ferguson, Tilleczek, Boydell, & Rummens, 2005; Satchwell, 2004) show that early school leaving is a long process of disengagement that arises from multiple factors associated with experiences both inside and outside of school.  In this study I carry out a qualitative analysis of both school and non-school related risk factors deemed to be significant to the early leaving of four young Portuguese-Canadian men.
Their stories attest to the complexity of the phenomenon as they affirm the impact of both school and non-school related factors on early school leaving such as irrelevant curriculum, learning community, socio-economic status, and social context.  In recounting their stories, and analyzing them through Bourdieu and Passeron’s (1979) understanding of “cultural capital” and “habitus,” I provide insights in this study into how administrators, educators and policymakers, alike may make learning more meaningful and authentic in order to curb early school leaving.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: Studying Software Evolution Using the Time Dependence of Code Changes

subject:
Software engineering
Software evolution

abstract: Thesis (Master, Computing) -- Queen's University, 2010-05-29 11:25:39.005

abstract:
Constructing software bears many similarities to constructing buildings. In a building project, each floor builds on the
previous structures (walls of the previous floors) with some structures being more
foundational (i.e. essential) for other structures and some periods of construction being more foundational (i.e. critical) to the final structure. In a software project, each change builds on the structures
created by prior changes with some changes creating foundational structure and with some time periods of changes being more
foundational than others.

This thesis is inspired by this similarity between constructing buildings
and constructing software. The thesis makes use of the similarity to study the evolution of software projects. In particular, we develop the concept of time dependence between code changes to study software evolution through empirical studies on two large open source projects (PostgreSQL and
FreeBSD) with more than 25 years of development history.
We show that time dependence can be used to
study how changes build on prior changes and the impact of this building process on the quality of a project. We show how
a development period impacts the development of future periods in a project. We also show how a subsystem (module) of a project builds on other subsystems and we identify the subsystems that have high impact on a project's development. Using this knowledge, managers can better monitor the progress of the projects and better plan for future
changes.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Motif-Based Evidence for a  Link Between a Plastid Translocon Substrate and Rhomboid Proteases

contributor:
Ko, Kenton
Biology

subject:
Organellar Rhomboid Proteases
Plant Protein Substrate
Motifs
Site-Directed Mutagenesis

abstract: Thesis (Master, Biology) -- Queen's University, 2010-05-30 10:22:07.72

abstract: Of the organisms with sequenced genomes, plants appear to possess the most rhomboid protease-encoding genes. However, our knowledge of processes in plants that involve Regulated Intramembrane Proteolysis (RIP) and rhomboid proteases remains low.  As expressed recently by other researchers, finding a natural substrate for a rhomboid protease represents the biggest experimental challenge.  Using yeast mitochondria-based assays, a potential link between the plastid translocon component Tic40 and organellar rhomboid proteases was recently uncovered.  In this particular link, rhomboid proteases appear capable of influencing the pattern of imported Tic40 in yeast mitochondria.  Tic40 may thus represent a natural plant target of organellar rhomboid proteases.  Here, we obtained further motif-oriented evidence supporting Tic40 as a natural plant rhomboid substrate.  A comparative analysis of sequences revealed that Tic40 may also possess similar TMD motifs found in the model substrate, Spitz.  Rhomboid proteases often require these motifs to cleave substrates within intramembrane environments. Using site-directed mutagenesis and yeast mitochondria assays, the impact of mutations occurring in the motifs ASISS, GV, QP, and GVGVG of Tic40 was assessed.  In terms of cleavage and changing the pattern of imported Tic40, some of the mutations showed decreased activities and a few showed enhancements.  More importantly, the overall observed pattern associated with select Tic40 mutations resembled the characteristics reported for the model substrates.  In particular, mutations in the Tic40 GV motif produced similar results as that observed with Spitz, by drastically decreasing or increasing cleavage as a function of amino acid sequence.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Synaptic Connections

contributor:
Hird, Myra J.
Sociology

subject:
Sociology of Science
Mental Health
Actor Network Theory
Philosophy of Science

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2010-05-30 15:52:08.78

abstract: This project critically evaluates sociological and biological epistemological approaches to the study of mental health and illness, such as anti-psychiatry, social constructivism, Actor Network Theory, neuroscience, and epigenetics, and addresses implications for establishing theoretical links between these domains of scholarship. How, for example, can neuroscience and epigenetics contribute to contemporary accounts of the embodiment of mental illness in the social sciences? What can the sociology of mental health contribute to contemporary biological accounts of behaviour? How might an integrative approach to the study of mental illness help better the lives of women and men living with mental illnesses? In order to address these questions, this project traces shifting sociological and natural scientific trajectories from the 1960s to present, and theorizes a more nuanced alignment between social and biological research in mental health. This dissertation is situated within a growing science studies tradition, one which examines the relationality between human and nonhuman processes, and which investigates how mental illness might be viewed as a constitutive state of relations between somatic (internal) and social (external) environments.

abstract: PhD


title: Out-Of-Plane Bending Of Masonry Walls With Near-Surface-Mounted And Externally-Bonded Corrosion-Resistant Reinforcement

contributor:
MacDougall, Colin
Fam, Amir Z.
Civil Engineering

subject:
Near-Surface-Mounted
Masonry
Stainless Steel
Out-Of-Plane
Externally-Bonded
FRP

abstract: Thesis (Master, Civil Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2010-05-31 06:24:20.976

abstract: Masonry walls subjected to out-of-plane loading, such as in a seismic event, require reinforcement to improve the ductility of the system. In current masonry construction practice, reinforcement is placed internally and fully grouted. For new construction this can make the wall unjustifiably heavy by not taking advantage of its light, hollow structure. For existing construction, it is difficult to retrofit using this technique.  Additionally, the reinforcement is located close to the neutral axis which reduces its effectiveness. Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) bars, strips and sheets are becoming increasingly popular in construction applications due to their noncorrosive nature and ease of installation. Also, stainless steel bars are used where the structure is exposed to a corrosive environment but have not found wider application for masonry structures. This study is an experimental investigation of the structural performance of masonry walls reinforced with Near-Surface-Mounted (NSM) FRP and stainless steel reinforcement under out-of-plane bending. Additionally, walls with Externally Bonded (EB) FRP sheets were tested.  The study simulates retrofitting applications and also proposes the NSM technique for new wall construction, using pre-grooved blocks, in lieu of the conventional method of internal reinforcing and grouting. To accommodate the NSM reinforcement, the grooves in the masonry blocks were aligned with ducts used to anchor the NSM reinforcement in the concrete footing.  Seven wall specimens were tested, including walls reinforced with conventional and stainless steel bars, glass-fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP), and carbon-FRP (CFRP) reinforcement. The study demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of the NSM technique for new construction. Walls with NSM reinforcement showed a superior performance to those with EB reinforcement. It was shown that increasing the FRP reinforcement ratio may result in a change of failure mode, and as such, the increase in strength may not be proportional to the increase in reinforcement ratio. NSM steel-reinforced walls showed a superior performance in terms of strength, stiffness and the ductility associated with the formation of a plastic hinge at the base.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Towards Water-Soluble Peroxyl Radial Clocks

contributor:
Pratt, Derek A.
Chemistry

subject:
Radical Clocks
Peroxyester Synthesis

abstract: Thesis (Master, Chemistry) -- Queen's University, 2010-05-31 09:53:50.676

abstract:
Peroxyesters undergo homolytic O-O bond cleavage under thermal and photolytic conditions, forming an alkoxyl and acyloxyl radical, the latter of which rapidly decarboxylates to form a carbon centered radical. While peroxyesters are generally decomposed under anaerobic conditions to serve as sources of carbon-centered radicals to initiate radical reactions, it has been shown that β,γ-unsaturated peroxyesters can decompose to yield a delocalized carbon-centered radical which can serve as a precursor to a powerful peroxyl radical clock. This competitive kinetic approach is attractive as it allows the facile determination of rate constants for formal H-atom reactions between peroxyl radicals and reductants (e.g. phenolic and aromatic amine antioxidants) without the need for specialized equipment. Furthermore, this approach allows for the determination of this kinetic data in a wide variety of solvents.
Herein, we present our work towards the development of a water-soluble peroxyl radical clock, such that the kinetics of reactions of peroxyl radicals with water-soluble reductants can be determined. To do so, we have designed β,γ-unsaturated peroxyesters analogous to those we have previously developed, but that bear either carboxylate or poly(ethylene glycol) moieties to improve solubility in aqueous media. In addition, we have carried out a preliminary investigation of the use of alkyl and acyl xanthates as precursors to peroxyl radical clocks. These radical precursors offer the advantage that they have a pronounced ultraviolet absorption that tails into the visible, permitting efficient photochemical generation of the same alkyl radicals, but at longer wavelengths than that which are currently employed.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: The Effects of an Intra-Dialytic Exercise Program on Self-Efficacy and Physical Activity: A Pilot Study

contributor:
King-VanVlack, Cheryl
Rehabilitation Science

subject:
Hemodialysis
Self-Efficacy
Physical Activity
Exercise

abstract: Thesis (Master, Rehabilitation Science) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-27 09:51:11.297

abstract:
Background: Levels of physical activity are significantly lower among individuals with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) compared to their healthy sedentary counterparts.  Low levels of self-efficacy (SE) with respect to exercise may contribute to a sedentary lifestyle in the ESRD population. Therefore, in a pilot investigation we examined the effects of an 8-week intra-dialytic (ID) exercise program on SE and physical activity (PA) in hemodialysis (HD) patients and determined the appropriateness and sensitivity of the selected outcome measures and proposed intervention.
Methods: HD patients were randomized into an Exercise group (EX, n=4) or a Control group (CON, n=4).  The EX group cycled for approximately 60 min during HD, thrice weekly for 8 weeks. The CON group continued with their usual activity. At 8 weeks, participants in both groups had the option to participate in the exercise program. Physical Activity was determined using the Human Activity Profile (Maximal Activity Score, MAS; Adjusted Activity Score, AAS) and SE was evaluated using the Chronic Disease Self-Efficacy Scale (CDSES) and Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale (ESES).   Measures were obtained at pre, post and 8 weeks following the intervention.
Results:  No significant changes in PA or SE occurred between or within groups at any time point. Limited statistical power due to the small sample size and a ceiling effect due to initial high-function levels of the participants may have contributed to the lack of significant changes. MAS and AAS were generally lower in the CON group. Age was significantly associated with the AAS, MAS, and the Perform Social/Recreational Activities sub-scale of the CDSES. Serum albumin was significantly related to the AAS and the Exercise Regularly and Do Chores sub-scales of the CDSES.
Conclusions: Age and albumin should be taken into account when assessing physical activity in HD patients. Recruitment of additional participants is required to more clearly define the role of intra-dialytic exercise in enhancing exercise self-efficacy and physical activity in HD patients.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Improving the Error Resilience of G.711.1 Speech Coder with Multiple Description Coding

contributor:
Chan, Wai-Yip Geoffrey
Blostein, Steven D.
Electrical and Computer Engineering

subject:
Multiple Description Coding
Probability Mixture Models

abstract: Thesis (Master, Electrical & Computer Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2010-06-02 16:02:11.727

abstract: This thesis devises quantization and source-channel coding schemes to increase the error robustness of the newly standardized ITU-T G.711.1 speech coder. The schemes employ Gaussian mixture model (GMM) based multiple description quantizers (MDQ). The thesis reviews the literature focusing on GMM based quantization, MDQ, and GMM-MDQ design methods and bit allocation schemes. GMM-MDQ are then designed for the quantization and coding of the MDCT coefficients in the G.711.1 speech coder. The designs are optimized for and tested over packet erasure channels. Performance of the designs are compared with Mohr's forward error correcting code based multiple description coding (MDC) scheme.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Panic Attack: a Micro-Situational Perspective of the Violent Actions of Police

contributor:
Sacco, Vincent F.
Sociology

subject:
Use of Force
Police
Violence
Micro-Situational

abstract: Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2010-06-01 12:01:57.453

abstract:
The use of force by police has been explored through a range of social science perspectives. However, the majority of those perspectives have failed to account for the impact that situational factors have on the use of coercion by police. While situational perspectives have been utilized, they have primarily focused on solitary features of the situation; thus, ignoring a situation’s various component parts. The general absence of consideration given to situational force is exhibited within the sociological literature more generally. This absence contributes to a diminished appreciation for the circumstances that transpire within the context of the situation. This thesis explores the role that the situation plays in the generation of police use of coercion. In addition, this thesis observes whether contemporary theoretical developments can elaborate the explanatory value of the situation in studying the use of violence by police. Specifically, this thesis utilizes Collins’ (2004) micro-situational theory of violence and his concept of forward panic.
	To examine the utility of Collins’ theory, eight theoretical propositions are used. This research examines the extent to which the propositions were empirically observable and whether they had a value added impact. The propositions examined were: 1) cross-purpose, 2) tension/fear, 3) the prolonged building of tension/fear, 4) docile lingering, 5) suspect in a position of weakness, 6) suspect outnumbered, 7) overkill and piling on of violence, and 8) rhythm. To observe the propositions a multiple case study analysis was conducted using Internet videos and newspaper articles. It was found that in all nine cases each of the propositions as described by Collins (2004) were present. The findings suggest general support for using Collins’ theory to explain police violence. In addition, his theory was found to have value added capability, as each of the situational components of the theory combined to impact on police violence.

abstract: M.A.


title: The Militia Movement in Bangladesh

contributor:
Beamish, Rob
Sociology

subject: Militia, movement, Islamism, leftwing militancy, ethnonationalist movement, social movement, ideology, motivation, resource mobilization, organization, ritual,

subject: Bangladesh, South Asia

abstract: Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2010-06-02 14:36:43.282

abstract: In the post-9/11 world, Bangladesh has been identified as a new hub of the Al-Qaeda network in South Asia. Most of the contemporary national and international media reports, security documents, and even academic studies point to the fact that an Islamist movement is on the dramatic rise in Bangladesh in recent years. These reports and studies portray the Islamist movement as closely linked with terrorism and devoid of any historical roots and relations with other types of movement. Contrary to this view, this study argues that the Islamist movement is not an unprecedented phenomenon but historically linked with a broader militia movement which subsequently leads to the emergence of Bangladesh as a nation state in 1971. Since its inception, the nation state is dealing not only with the Islamist movement but also with two other types of militia movement almost simultaneously – the leftwing and the ethnic. Having identified these three types, this study defines the militia movement in terms of five analytical categories – ideology, motivation, mobilization, organization, and ritual – following Freilich and others. It analyzes the Bangladesh militia movement in terms of these five dimensions, providing historical-empirical data from both primary and secondary sources to show how the contemporary militias are carrying forward the legacy of their historical forerunners. This study concludes with policy recommendations on how informed decisions can be made to effectively deal with the militia issue.

abstract: M.A.


title: Modal Analysis of MEMS Gyroscopic Sensors

contributor:
Lai, Yongjun
Mechanical and Materials Engineering

subject:
MEMS
Angular Rate Sensors
Mode Shapes

abstract: Thesis (Master, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2010-06-02 22:00:52.994

abstract:
Microgyroscopes find popular applications in modern life, such as, vehicle navigation, inertial positioning, human body motion monitoring, etc. In this study, three unique MEMS gyroscopic sensors were investigated using experimental methods and finite element analysis (FEA) modelling, particularly their modal behaviour. The analytical, simulated and experimental results were compared and the discrepancy between resonant frequencies of the significant mode shapes was discussed.
Three microfabricated gyroscopes were investigated: a thermally-actuated in-plane gyroscope, an electrostatically-actuated in-plane gyroscope and an electrostatically-actuated out-of-plane gyroscope. Numerical finite element modal analysis for these three gyroscopes was conducted using COMSOL Multiphysics. The experimental testing was conducted using a microsystem analyzer (MSA-400 PolyTec) with an integrated laser vibrometer.
The simulation models predicted that the frequencies for driving and sensing modes were 4.948kHz and 5.459kHz for a thermally-actuated gyroscope, which agreed well with experimentally determined results of 5.98kHz and 6.0kHz respectively. The power requirements of a thermally-actuated gyroscope were 363.39mW to elicit a maximum peak-to-peak displacement of 4.2μm during dynamic operation. Similarly, the simulated frequencies for the driving and sensing modes were 1.170kHz and 1.644kHz for an electrostatically-actuated in-plane gyroscope, which corresponded to experimentally determined resonant frequencies 1.6kHz and 1.9kHz.
Simulation for the electrostatically-actuated out-of-plane gyroscope was conducted and the frequencies for the driving and sensing modes were found to be 2.159kHz and 3.298kHz. Due to some fabrication defects, the experimental testing for this microgyroscope was not successful. Some recommendations to improve the design were provided for the future work.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Today Indian Food: Perspectives of Aboriginal Peoples on the Foods in their Contemporary Diets

contributor:
Power, Elaine
Kinesiology and Health Studies

subject:
Aboriginal peoples
food
contemporary
critical
traditional food
store-bought food

abstract: Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2010-06-03 17:08:42.632

abstract: Much of the academic literature and many health promotion materials related to Aboriginal peoples and food reflect and propagate a problematic view of authentic Aboriginal cultures: that they are frozen in time and are in need of protection. This prevailing view ignores the reality that all cultures, and their cuisines, evolve and adapt through creativity and resilience. Most food research focusing on Aboriginal peoples centers around narrowly defined “traditional foods,” and little attention has been paid to what they themselves consider to be “traditional foods,” or the socio-cultural significance of contemporary food patterns. Because others have often paternalistically assumed to know what is in their best interests, Aboriginal peoples’ perspectives have seldomly been heard on such matters. The purpose of this project was to hear the voices of Aboriginal peoples about the meanings and values of foods in their contemporary diets. Participants, who self-identified as being Aboriginal persons, living in or near Terrace, British Columbia, were asked to take pictures of everyday foods, which were used in open-ended, semi-structured, photo-elucidated interviews. Themes identified in preliminary analysis were further discussed in a group interview. Analysis of these interviews showed support for some key issues documented in the academic literature, such as barriers that exist in accessing and using locally gathered foods. However, particiants also contested some of the assumptions implicit in research and health promotion materials, such as the dichotomization of gathered foods as “healthy” and store-bought foods as “unhealthy.” Analysis showed that the meanings participants ascribe to food are context dependant; for example, different partcipants might consider a particular food a luxury, staple or “poor food,” depending on their backgrounds. Analysis also revealed that there are debates about what foods are considered to be “traditional.” The findings of this research urge us to reconsider some of the assumptions that inform research and health promotion activities targetting Aboriginal peoples.

abstract: M.A.


title: Functional studies of the human 25-hydroxyvitamin D3-24-hydroxylase, CYP24A1

contributor:
Jones, Glenville
Biochemistry

subject:
vitamin D
metabolism
cytochrome P450
CYP24A1
Vitamin D analog

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Biochemistry) -- Queen's University, 2010-06-07 14:46:40.409

abstract: This thesis focuses on the cytochrome P450 CYP24A1, which catabolizes 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1α,25-(OH)2D3) via two pathways commencing with C24-, or C23-hydroxylation and culminating in calcitroic acid or 1α,25-(OH)2D3-26,23-lactone respectively.  In my thesis, I set out to identify the molecular determinants of the unique multicatalytic activity of human (h) CYP24A1, using a combination of techniques including homology modeling, site-directed mutagenesis and enzyme activity assays.  In total, 42 hCYP24A1 mutants were stably transfected into V79-4 cells, and the metabolism of 1α,25-(OH)2D3 and 9 analogs or prodrugs were studied using HPLC and LC-MS-based techniques.  Overall, we observed that mutations at sites in contact with the side-chain of 1α,25-(OH)2D3 above the heme in the homology model, affected the regioselectivity of the protein, and mutations at more distal sites along the substrate cavity affected the access of the substrate or intermediates.  Of these mutations, A326G and V391L were of particular interest.  Ala326, in the centre of the I-helix in contact with the side chain of 1α,25-(OH)2D3, is a major determinant of the regioselectivity difference between opossum (C23-hydroxylating) and human (C24-hydroxylating) enzymes.  When Ala326 was mutated to Gly, as it is in opossum, hCYP24A1 was converted from a C24-hydroxylase, to a C23-hydroxylase, forming 1α,25-(OH)2D3-26,23-lactone.  We propose that A326G permits the side chain to enter the substrate binding site more deeply, thus positioning C23 as opposed to C24 above the heme for hydroxylation.  Another mutation, V391L in the beta-3a sheet, drastically changed the substrate specificity of CYP24A1 towards the prodrug 1α-hydroxyvitamin D3 (1α-OH-D3), which is not metabolized by the wild-type enzyme.  V391L converted  hCYP24A1 into a  1α-OH-D3-25-hydroxylase, forming 1α,25-(OH)2D3 which was subsequently catabolized via C24-hydroxylation by the same enzyme.  The downstream catabolism of 1α,25-(OH)2D3 formed from 1α-OH-D3 was engineered to proceed via C23-hydroxylation, by introducing a V391L/A326G double mutant.  We propose that altered steric contact at C21 is responsible for enabling C25-hydroxylation by V391L.  Taken together, we have successfully developed an approach that has identified key structural and functional insights into the mechanism of action of hCYP24A1 that can be potentially applied to study other cytochrome P450 enzymes.

abstract: PhD


title: Transit-Oriented Development in Smiths Falls, Ontario: A Comparison Between Two Sites

contributor:
Gordon, David
Urban and Regional Planning

rights: This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research.

subject:
Transit-Oriented Development
Smiths Falls
VIA Rail
Commuter Suburb

abstract: Project(Master, Urban & Regional Planning) -- Queen's University, 2010-06-05

abstract: In 2007, the Mayor of Ottawa’s Task Force on Transportation suggested connecting Smiths Falls with Ottawa via commuter rail. While planning for this rail line continues, VIA Rail is preparing to move its operations from a historic urban station to a new unstaffed building at the edge of the Town. Does the existing or future train station have more potential to accommodate commuter transit-oriented development (TOD), as defined by the City of Ottawa’s guidelines? A combination of TOD guidelines from the City of Ottawa and Robert Cervero’s Developing Around Transit were used to evaluate the potential for existing land uses and policies to accommodate TOD around one of two potential sites for a commuter rail station in Smiths Falls. Twenty-five guidelines were divided into six categories: land use, layout, built form, pedestrians and cyclists, vehicles and parking, and streetscape and environment. All guidelines were compared to existing land use conditions and relevant policies for within a 600-metre radius of the existing and future VIA Rail stations. Upon applying the evaluation criteria to the existing and potential attributes of the two site areas, and the policies of the municipalities of Smiths Falls and Montague, the conclusion drawn from the detailed analysis was that the existing VIA station and site area are in a better position to use existing land use patterns and municipal policies for positive commuter TOD. To properly take advantage of any future commuter rail station, Smiths Falls should connect its existing core commercial area on Beckwith to the station via attractive amenities at higher densities along Daniel Street and promote Victoria Avenue as a new destination for a wide variety of land uses. The Town should amend its Official Plan and Zoning By-Law to promote biking as a viable mode of local transportation and implement a local mass transit network to connect the station to other areas of the Town. Should Canadian Pacific Railway move its yards to another part of the city, the Town should determine what transit-oriented uses could be made of the current rail yards.


title: Nothing "Improper" Happened: Sex, Marriage, and Colonial Identity in Upper Canada, 1783-1850

contributor:
Errington, E. Jane
Dubinsky, Karen
History

subject: colonial, history, gender, sexuality, marriage

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, History) -- Queen's University, 2010-06-09 11:22:21.67

abstract:
This study explores the importance of heterosexual relationships, in theory and practice, to the making of Upper Canada as a British colonial society. Between 1783, when settlers began to enter the territory in the wake of the American Revolutionary War, and 1850, when the transition toward a more powerful colonial state was underway, contests surrounding marriage, gender, and sexuality were of great significance.  The colony was intended by its first and many of its subsequent Lieutenant-Governors to serve as a model of loyalty to the British Empire and a bulwark against American democratic “disorder.”  Fundamental to this colonial project was the presence of an orderly body of white settlers; however, this aim was often complicated and undermined by a diverse settler population which refused to conform to middle-class mores and social norms. Marriage and sexual “morality,” significant aspects of assessing “race” and “civilization” in this period, were primary sites for these tensions.
This study reenvisions appropriate and inappropriate heterosexual behaviour in the colony and explores the importance of debates over marriage and sexuality to articulations of settler identity.  Using private writings, travel literature, and judicial records, including the benchbooks of the colony’s judges, I examine the ways the formation and dissolution of intimate relationships were contested between individual colonists, in local politics, and in international discourse about the British empire and the value of its colonies of settlement.  Although Upper Canadians generally tolerated a broader spectrum of heterosexual behaviours and practices, including “irregular” marriage forms, disputes over appropriate expressions of sexuality and marriage were implicated in the rhetoric of inclusion and exclusion from the colony’s inception.   The role of the “neighbourhood” and community knowledge was multivalent and critical in determining acceptable behaviour in consensual relationships and defining sexual coercion.  By the end of the 1840s, shifts in cultural and legal values increasingly placed the regulation of intimate matters in the hands of the state.

abstract: PhD


title: Dissipative Decomposition and Feedback Stabilization of Nonlinear Control Systems

contributor:
Guay, Martin
Chemical Engineering

subject:
Nonlinear Control
Nonlinear Systems

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Chemical Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2010-06-17 10:13:42.201

abstract:
This dissertation considers the problem of approximate dissipative potentials construction and their use in smooth feedback stabilization of nonlinear control systems.  For mechanical systems, dissipative potentials, usually a generalized Hamiltonian function, can be derived from physical intuition.  When a dissipative Hamiltonian is not available, one can rely on dissipative Hamiltonian realization techniques, as proposed recently by Cheng and coworkers.  Extensive results are available in the literature for (robust) stabilization based on the obtained potential.

For systems of interest in chemical engineering, especially systems with mass action kinetics, energy is often ill-defined.  Moreover, realization techniques are difficult to apply, due to the nonlinearities associated with the reaction terms.   Approximate dissipative realization techniques have been considered by many researchers for analysis and feedback design of controllers in the context of chemical processes.  The objective of this thesis is to study the
construction of local dissipative potentials and their application to solve stabilization problems.

The present work employs the geometric stabilization approach proposed by Jurdjevic and Quinn, refined by Faubourg and Pomet, and by Malisoff and Mazenc, for the design of stabilizing feedback laws.  This thesis seeks to extend and apply the Jurdjevic--Quinn stabilization method to nonlinear stabilization problems, assuming no a priori
knowledge of a Lyapunov function.

A homotopy-based local decomposition method is first employed to study the dissipative Hamiltonian realization problem, leading to the construction of locally defined dissipative potentials.  If the obtained  potential satisfies locally the
weak Jurdjevic--Quinn conditions, it is then shown how to construct feedback controllers using that potential, and
under what conditions a Lyapunov function can be constructed locally for time-independent control affine systems.  The proposed technique is then used for the construction of state feedback regulators and for the stabilization of periodic orbits based on a construction proposed by Bacciotti and Mazzi.  In the last chapter of the thesis, stabilization of time-dependent control affine systems is considered, and the main result is used for the stabilization of periodic solutions using asymptotic feedback tracking.

Low-dimensional examples are used throughout the thesis to illustrate the proposed techniques and results.

abstract: PhD


title: Reconfigurable CMOS Mixers for Radio-Frequency Applications

contributor:
Saavedra, Carlos E.
Electrical and Computer Engineering

subject: Reconfigurable Radio-Frequency CMOS Mixer

abstract: Thesis (Master, Electrical & Computer Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2010-06-18 14:40:35.062

abstract:
This thesis focuses on the design of radio-frequency (RF) mixers, including a broadband downconverter mixer, an upconverter mixer and a downconverter mixer with high linearity. The basic mixer topology used in this thesis was the Gilbert cell mixer, which is the most popular mixer topology in modern communication systems. In order to accommodate different applications, the broadband mixer and the upconverter mixer were designed to be reconfigurable.

First, a broadband downconverter mixer with variable conversion gain was designed using 0.13-$\mu m$ CMOS technology. The mixer worked from 2 to 10 GHz. By changing the effective transistor size of the transconductor and the load, the mixer was able to work in three different modes with different conversion gain and power consumption.

Second, an upconverter mixer with sideband selection was demonstrated in CMOS 0.13-$\mu$m technology. The transmitted sideband could be chosen to be the upper sideband or the lower sideband. The mixer worked at 5 GHz with a 100 MHz IF. The measured voltage conversion gains were 11.2 dB at 4.9 GHz and 12.4 dB at 5.1 GHz. The best sideband rejection was around 30 dB.

Third, a modified derivative superposition (DS) technique was used to linearize a Gilbert cell mixer. Simulation results predicted an IIP3 improvement of 12.5 dB at 1 GHz. After linearization, the noise figure of the mixer increased by only 0.7 dB and the conversion gain decreased by 0.3 dB. The power consumption of the mixer increased by 0.96 mW.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: A CMOS QPSK Demodulator Frontend for GPON

contributor:
Frank, Brian M.
Electrical and Computer Engineering

subject:
frontend
QPSK demodulation
GPON
CMOS
VCO
mixer

abstract: Thesis (Master, Electrical & Computer Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2010-06-29 10:59:45.312

abstract:
This thesis examines the design of a QPSK demodulator frontend for GPON transceiver at end user's side. Since lowering the cost of the terminal transceivers in an access network like GPON is a key requirement, CMOS technology is used and several area-saving design techniques are applied. The designed frontend circuit saved more than 80% area of the key components like the mixers and the QVCO than some published designs which can also fit the application. A measurement in frequency domain and a simulation in time domain verified that this frontend is able to demodulate a QPSK signal with a data rate as high as 5 Gbit/s.

Two structures of quadrature oscillators are firstly presented and compared. One is an LC QVCO centered at 5 GHz, which has a tuning range of 3 GHz, a phase noise of -100.8 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset, and an area of 0.15 mm2 excluding pads. The other is a ring QVCO which only takes an area of 0.019 mm2. But it has a higher phase noise of -81 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset.

Then two broadband mixers are described separately. The first one provides a high conversion gain, but its input linearity is insufficient to meet the input power requirement. The second mixer obtains required input linearity but with a trade-off of conversion gain. Both mixers have a broadband input impedance match from 2 GHz to 8 GHz. The first mixer has a conversion gain of 8.5 dB and an input 1 dB compresion point at -17 dBm. The second mixer has a conversion gain of -7 dB with an on-chip buffer or -2.1 dB without buffer, but an input 1 dB compresion point at -5 dBm.

A frontend circuit is lastly presented. It integrates the compact ring QVCO, two broadband mixers with high input linearity, and two second-order LC ladder low pass filters. A Frequency domain measurement shows the expected spectrum down conversion of a 2.5 Gsym/s QPSK signal centered at 5 GHz. The whole frontend circuit including pads takes 1 mm2 area, and consumed 157 mW power.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Making Hair Matter: Untangling Black Hair/Style Politics

contributor:
Burfoot, Annette J.
Sociology

subject: Hair Women Gender Race Racialization Black Identity Performativity

abstract: Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2010-06-21 23:24:38.111

abstract: Hair is a remarkably complex material-semiotic entity. Caught on the cusp between self/society, meticulously contrived and purposely styled, hair is crucial in the articulation of identity and difference. However, although scholars have focused a great deal of attention on the body as a site of cultural production and identity politics, discussions surrounding hair have been largely ignored and relegated to the realm of the trivial or inconsequential. Addressing this void, this project places hair at the centre of examination in a two-part qualitative analysis. First, hair is reconfigured as sign and examined as a socio-cultural performance achieved through the reiteration of historically contingent practices, and materialized through the body. Particular attention is paid to Black women’s hair/styling practices as a vital site of cultural production, identity negotiation and radical subversion. Following this is a critical discourse analysis of the representation of hair within popular culture, with a specific focus on the way in which Black women’s hair/styling practices are fundamentally implicated in the production of identity and difference. The possibility of resistance through transgressive hair stylizations is also explored. Overall, hair is found to be intimately involved in the (re)constitution of sexed/gendered beings, integral to the process of racialization and a potential locus of resistance. However, this investigation also finds that popular culture displays –even those that purport to offer a critical analysis – fail to destabilize the underlying regimes of domination and oppression that limit and sustain the systems of meaning through which hair is understood.

abstract: M.A.


title: A Time to Question: A Study of the Information Needs of Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Patients Regarding Endocrine Therapy

contributor:
Tranmer, Joan E.
Nursing

subject:
Information needs
Breast cancer
Endocrine therapy

abstract: Thesis (Master, Nursing) -- Queen's University, 2010-06-25 15:21:29.869

abstract: When women are faced with the diagnosis and treatment options for their care, they have high a need for information that persists throughout the course of their illness.  When information needs are met, women are able to make informed decisions regarding their care, have increased quality of life, and cope better with their illness.  The objective of this study was to identify the information needs of postmenopausal women with early stage breast cancer making treatment decisions regarding endocrine therapy.  An integrative review of research was conducted to collate and describe the information needs assessment methodologies used to identify information needs for women with breast cancer.  Based on this review and our long-term goal of identifying a list of questions or information needs of women at this stage of their cancer treatment, we conducted a qualitative descriptive study to identify information needs and interviewed 17 post-menopausal women with early stage breast cancer and 4 healthcare providers.  Women were asked to describe the questions they had or the information that they needed when endocrine therapy became part of their care.  The healthcare providers described the information that they felt was important for women to know in regard to endocrine therapy.  A list of 91 questions regarding endocrine therapy was identified; including information needs related to side effects, drug characteristics, financial cost, and survival/recurrence.  Most women were not aware that they had a choice about the different types of endocrine treatment and often followed the physician’s recommendations.  This study supports the assertion that postmenopausal women with breast cancer wish to be informed that they have a choice and desire information to make the best personal choice in collaboration with the physician.  Healthcare professionals need to be aware of both the common and individual patients’ information needs and present options to assist women making the best decisions about their care.

abstract: MNSc.


title: The Influence of Science on Conservation Planning in the Long Point Region: How Characterizations of Science Affect Conservation Applications

contributor:
Whitelaw, Graham S.
Urban and Regional Planning

subject:
Environmental Planning
Conservation Planning
Collaborative Planning
Local Ecological Knowledge
Civil Society
Science

abstract: Thesis (Master, Urban & Regional Planning) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-05 20:55:39.924

abstract:
This research explored the role of science and civil society environmental organizations in conservation planning, using a case study of Ontario’s Long Point region.  Science is a dynamic field that is constantly adapting and evolving and is increasingly relied on as a basis for decision-making in conservation planning, policy and management.  The role of civil society in conservation planning has also grown and organizations that operate outside of government now play an important role in acquiring land, conducting monitoring activities, and promoting local stewardship.  Considering the activities of these organizations, and the underlying science that informs them, is essential given the increasing prevalence of this type of work and the increasing ability of civil society organizations to affect conservation planning outcomes.

Through a literature review, document analysis, and semi-structured interviews, this research considered how characterizations of science, applications of science, and recent trends in science have influenced conservation plans, policies, and actions in the Long Point region.  The results illustrate how different forms of information were considered and applied when prioritizing, justifying, and implementing conservation projects and provide a location-specific example of how the modern features of conservation planning and management are influencing environmental outcomes.   Specifically, the results suggest how place-based knowledge can potentially be disseminated through policy and planning initiatives and also suggest how different forms of information may interact to influence overall project credibility.  These findings have implications for both planning theory and practice by contributing to our understanding of the role of science in shaping conservation practices, the role of civil society in driving conservation innovation, and the importance of local knowledge in supporting effective conservation actions.

abstract: M.PL.


title: Monologues en France - Du moyen âge à Raymond Devos

contributor:
Bénard, Johanne
French

subject: Monologues

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, French) -- Queen's University, 2010-06-29 13:50:44.83

abstract:
The first part of this research is devoted to work of an anthological and descriptive sort, which aims at gathering a corpus of French independent monologues. "Independent monologue" should be understood as a self-sufficient stage performance based on the speaking of a single artist, in opposition to the monologues inserted in a dialogical play. From the Middle Ages to the 1950's, this historical review focuses in particular on the thirteenth century "jongleurs", the burlesque sermons at the junction of the end of the Middles Ages and the early Renaissance, the plays "in monologues" of the eighteenth century, the "monologues fumistes" at the end of the nineteenth century, the poets and cabaret singers of the Belle Époque, Cocteau's monological theatre and two of the first contemporary humorists, Bourvil and Fernand Raynaud.

This corpus provides the material for a two-step analysis. First we examine whether the type-differences that certain monologues reveal can be accounted for by objective formal characteristics which then allow us to propose a partition of our corpus. As a result of this questioning, we propose that generic distinctions can be established among the monologues according to the enunciation conditions they develop, that is, whether the speech is directly addressed to the public or not, and whether the enunciator is a character or the artist himself. Next we organize the monological universe according to traits, transversal to the generic partition, with which the monologues present affinities. These traits pertain to scenic modalities, to functions held by the monologuist or to the form of discourse. The analytic tool previously developed is finally brought into play in confronting the work of Raymond Devos, a humorist emblematic of the French scene whose sketches stand out for the remarkable plays on word they display.

N. B.: the bibliography aims at offering simplified access to the monologues, in particular by providing the references to internet documents, be they texts that are difficult to obtain or audio and video recordings.

abstract: PhD


title: Projector-Camera Calibration Using Gray Code Patterns

contributor:
Greenspan, Michael A.
Electrical and Computer Engineering

subject:
projector-camera systems
projector distortion
projector calibration
short-throw projector
non-parametric model
Gray code

abstract: Thesis (Master, Electrical & Computer Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2010-06-29 09:33:50.311

abstract: A parameter-free solution is presented for data projector calibration using a single camera and Gray coded structured light patterns. The proposed method assumes that both camera and projector exhibit significant non-linear distortion, and that projection surfaces can be either planar or freeform. The camera is calibrated first through traditional methods, and the calibrated images are then used to detect Gray coded patterns displayed on a surface by the data projector. Projector to camera correspondences are created by decoding the patterns in the camera images to form a 2D correspondence map. Calibrated systems produce geometrically correct, ex- tremely short throw projections, while maintaining or exceeding the projection size of a standard configuration. Qualitative experiments are performed on two baseline images, while quantitative data is recovered from the projected image of a chessboard pattern. A typical throw ratio of 0.5 can be achieved with a pixel distance error below 1.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: An Exploration of Levels of Phonological Awareness as Predictors of Word Reading in Korean Children Learning English

contributor:
Wade-Woolley, Lesly
Education

subject:
L2 Reading
Phonological Awareness
ESL
Korean Hangul
Prosody
Individual Differences

abstract: Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2010-06-30 18:10:10.564

abstract: Until recently, the majority of research in the area of English phonological awareness has centered on segmental phonology as predictors of reading. Current research, however, has expanded the concept of phonological awareness to include prosodic sensitivity⎯the awareness of suprasegmental information. The present study explores the role of five segmental and suprasegmental levels of English phonological awareness as predictors of individual differences in word reading in Korean children learning English. 104 native Hangul speaking children in Grade 3 were assessed on English levels of stress, syllable, rime, simple phoneme, and consonant cluster awareness, as well as, English and Hangul word reading. Hierarchical regression models indicated that awareness of syllables, onset/rime units, and phonemes within consonant clusters were uniquely predictive of individual differences in L2 English word reading after accounting for cognitive ability, English background variables, and L1 word reading. Awareness of stress-timed patterns contributed to common variance in English and Hangul word reading, but was not uniquely predictive in final regression models. No level of phonological awareness was predictive of Hangul word reading. Results support the notion that segmental phonological elements not present in L1 may be predictive of individual differences in L2 word reading. Furthermore, cross-language transfer of PA may be weak in the direction of English (L2) to Hangul (L1).

abstract: M.Ed.


title: An In Vitro Murine Model to Study Intestinal Mesenteric Afferent Activity in Response to Luminal Fatty Acid Stimuli

contributor:
Beyak, Michael J.
Physiology

subject:
Murine
Afferent
Luminal
Fatty Acid
Intestine
Nerve Recording
Obesity
Satiety
Oleate
cck
Nerve Firing
Nerve Signals
Neural
Neuronal
Nerve
Mouse
Jejunum
Small Intestine
Satiation
Butyrate
Distension

abstract: Thesis (Master, Physiology) -- Queen's University, 2010-06-29 15:56:08.387

abstract:
Obesity is pandemic.  Pharmacological treatment development depends on modeling the regulation of feeding, particularly by free fatty acids (FFA).  Most models have been employed in the rat in vivo, and show FFA-stimulated intestinal satiety signals are dependent on the fat’s acyl chain-length, involve cholecystokinin (CCK) secretion, and are mediated by vagal afferents.  I hypothesized that an in vitro mouse model could be employed, with sensitivity to measure afferent responses to nutrient stimuli.
     Male C57BL/6N mice were killed, the intestine harvested en bloc, and a jejunal section dissected with neurovascular mesenteric arcade emanating centrally.  The tissue was placed in a Krebs-superfused chamber, the lumen cannulated with the outlet open to drain, and Krebs or other mediators were continuously perfused intraluminally.  The dissected afferent nerve was placed in a suction electrode for extracellular recording.  Afferent responses to distension and the perfusion of mediators (e.g. CCK or FFA) were tested.  Preparations from normal mice (no surgery), or from mice following chronic subdiaphragmatic vagotomy or sham operation, were used to assess vagal afferent contributions.
     Luminally-perfused CCK (100 nM) increased afferent firing.  This response was abolished with the CCK-1 receptor antagonist lorglumide (10 µM).  The short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) sodium butyrate (30 mM) potentiated firing.  The long-chain fatty acid (LCFA) sodium oleate (1-300 mM) activated concentration-dependent firing (EC50=25.35 mM) that was significantly greater at 30 mM than that evoked by butyrate.  Lorglumide (30 µM) abolished the oleate (30 mM) response.  The L-type Ca2+ channel (LTCC) inhibitor nicardipine (3 µM), intraluminally, potentiated the oleate response, while bath application abolished it.  Vagotomy attenuated the oleate response.  Vagotomy abolished the intraluminal CCK (100 nM) response, and attenuated the response to bath-superfused CCK.
     These findings support FFA chain-length-dependent mesenteric afferent activation and CCK involvement in oleate-induced firing, and suggest LTCC mediation of excitatory and inhibitory oleate response transduction pathways.  The murine oleate response was shown to be mostly vagally-mediated, with some spinal contribution, and both vagal and spinal contributions to CCK responses were suggested.  These data provide a basis for further investigation in vitro of cellular and molecular mechanisms of afferent satiety signals, and ultimately of obesity pathogenesis.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Densified Biomass as a Fuel Source: A New Pellet For New Possibilities

contributor:
Pollard, Andrew
Mechanical and Materials Engineering

subject:
Biomass
Energy
Poplar
Torrefaction
Spherical Pellet
Hydrophobic
Renewable

abstract: Thesis (Master, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-05 15:56:20.145

abstract: Current biomass pellets are susceptible to fines production during handling and transportation, moisture absorption, biological degradation, low specific energy content, off-gassing and poor flow and handling characteristics. The goal of this thesis was to create a novel pellet that addressed these issues. A new mould and die assembly was created to form spherical pellets using hybrid poplar that was torrefied in-situ. The new pellets were subjected to crushing, abrasion and tests of their hydrophilic performance. Additionally, ultimate and proximate analysis was performed. A “batch” torrefier was constructed to investigate the properties of torrefied poplar in order to compare the results to in-situ torrefied pellets. Mechanical and chemical tests which examined failure strength in compression, abrasion resistance, hydrophobic nature, gross calorific value, density, and size were used to determine where the new pellets ranked in comparison to standard cylindrical pellets. A set of designed experiments which used the aforementioned responses was created to formulate linear models which could predict the same responses based upon three two-level “factor” inputs: biomass particle size, moisture content of biomass, and temperature of torrefaction. The new spherical pellets withstood compressive forces of up to 17.06 MPa, did not abrade, absorbed up to 29.4% moisture yet returned to an “air-dry” moisture content of <5% on a mass basis within 24 hours and obtained specific energies up to 22.09 MJ/kg. In addition, spherical pellets did not disintegrate when immersed, but instead remained intact and possessed much of their original physical characteristics once dried. The designed experiments showed that torrefaction temperature was the most important factor which affected test responses.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Spheres of Influence: Understanding International School Choice in Malaysia

contributor:
Luce-Kapler, Rebecca
Education

subject:
International Schools
School Choice

abstract: Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2010-06-30 07:36:19.755

abstract: This study offers a hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry into the experiences of Malaysian parents who selected an international education for their children. Data collection was conducted at one international school in Kuala Lumpur, and consisted of both a survey and interviews. The study focused on parents’ own educational background and experiences, their expectations and motivations for selecting an international school, factors affecting school choice, and attitudes to cultural and self-identities within the context of international education. Findings suggest that Malaysian parents from different age groups as well as varying ethnic and linguistic backgrounds had similar motivations for sending their children to an international school. From the data analysis, three themes emerged: aspirational priorities, discouraging influences, and enabling factors. By scaffolding my examination within the theory of reproduction in education and notions of social and cultural capital, I examined how multiple forms of economic, cultural, and social capital are recognized and mobilized in the search for a quality education in an increasingly globalized market. I conclude that Malaysian parents in this study chose an international school for their children based on experiences forged in four spheres of influence: individual, social, national, and global.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: Ökologische Weltbilder in den Werken Adalbert Stifters - Einheitserfahrung und Herrschaftswille

contributor:
Pugh, David
German

subject:
Ecocriticism
Adalbert Stifter

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, German) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-03 15:55:04.052

abstract: It is an undeniable fact that Adalbert Stifter paid detailed attention to his natural surroundings. Yet in the 1980s and 90s Stifter research focused on the author’s use of language: scholars endeavoured to emancipate the text from the intention of the author and to argue that a hermeneutic understanding of the text as a unity of meaning was impossible. More recently, scholars have pointed out the importance of Stifter’s ethical world-view, which insists on an equal treatment of all things. Following on from those arguments, this thesis conducts a reading of Stifter’s works from an ecological point of view and their implication for a good life in accordance with nature. Albert Schweitzer’s "Reverence for Life" and Arne Næss’ Deep Ecology are used as the ethical and philosophical framework. The four discussed works, "Der Hochwald" (1841/ 44), "Bergkristall" (1845/ 53), "Kalkstein" (1848/ 53) and "Der Nachsommer" (1857) show affinities and inconsistencies both between the different texts and within the individual texts themselves. Especially "Der Nachsommer" contradicts itself with its insistence that humans are only an "insertion" in the history of the earth on the one hand and its sympathy for the human desire for domination of the land on the other. Firstly, the thesis shows how the complexity of the ecological imagery in Stifter’s texts reflects the intricacy of a nineteenth-century perception of the world. The enthusiastic conquest of nature and the desire to reorder nature exists simultaneously with the scientific questioning of the subjective world-view. This questioning of a subjective perception of the world is secondly linked to the ecological imagery in Stifter’s work. His idiosyncratic language gives life to all things. This language, which I call an ecocentric narrative style, can be retraced in all his works, even in "Nachsommer". Consequently, the experience of the sublime is shifted into an ecological sublime. The perception of the immensity of nature and one’s own insignificance is not to be overcome by reason, but is instead a comforting realisation of one’s own relationship to and oneness with the entirety of the natural world.

abstract: PhD


title: Does the Plan Fit? The Effectiveness of Combining Implementation Intentions and Regulatory Fit for Increasing Physical Activity and Decreasing Sedentary Behaviour

contributor:
Latimer, Amy
Kinesiology and Health Studies

subject:
Physical activity
Sedentary behaviour
Implementation intentions
Regulatory fit
Health promotion

abstract: Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-02 11:32:18.716

abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of combining implementation intentions (II) and regulatory fit in the context of two important health goals: increasing leisure time physical activity and decreasing leisure time sedentary behaviour. Implementation intentions specify exactly how, when, and where a behaviour will occur and can be an effective method of increasing goal enactment. Regulatory fit occurs when a goal or strategy used to achieve the goal matches an individual’s regulatory orientation. University students (N = 180) were randomly assigned to a goal (increase activity/decrease screen time) and an experimental condition (II/non-II). Participants formed a goal to increase their physical activity or decrease their screen time over the following four weeks according to their random assignment. Participants’ commitment to their goal was monitored over the course of the study. The II group also formed a detailed plan regarding how they would accomplish their goal. Regulatory fit was determined based on group assignment and score on the regulatory focus questionnaire. Physical activity and screen time were assessed with self-report questionnaires. Follow-up occurred online four weeks after baseline. Data were analyzed separately by goal type using linear regressions to examine the effects of regulatory fit, experimental condition, and goal commitment on the behaviour variables. The regulatory fit manipulation was not successful. Among those with the physical activity goal, no significant effects emerged for the experimental variables. Among those with the screen time goal and in the fit, II group, stronger goal commitment tended to be associated with increased participation in moderate physical activity, β = .17, t(22) = .94, p = .36. Also, participants who set II for the screen time goal and were committed to this goal tended to report less screen time than participants with lower goal commitment (β = -.40, t(69) = -2.05, p = .05). Findings provide preliminary insight into the effectiveness of II and the importance of goal commitment in interventions aiming to reduce sedentary behaviour.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Weld Read-Through Defects in Laser Transmission Welding

contributor:
Bates, Philip J.
Zak, Gene
Chemical Engineering

subject:
Laser Transmission Welding
Surface Deformation
Weld Read-Through

abstract: Thesis (Master, Chemical Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-02 14:34:41.201

abstract:
In laser Transmission Welding (LTW), the laser beam passes through the transparent part and is dissipated as heat in the absorbent material through the use of laser-absorbing pigments such as carbon black (CB).  This energy is then conducted further into both parts.  Melting and subsequent solidification occur at the interface causing a weld to form between the two parts.
Gluing or welding structures to the back of automotive Class-A panels often results in the appearance of undesirable surface deformations on the Class-A side.  Through control of the laser welding and material parameters, it may be possible to use contour LTW as a means of joining structures to the back of absorbent Class-A panels without creating these unwanted surface defects.
A series of lap welds was made using a range of CB levels, laser powers and polypropylene part thicknesses.  A profilometer was used to measure the size and shape of the defects generated on the surface of the black part.  Two types of defects were observed: ribs and sink marks.  It was observed that lower powers combined with higher carbon black levels generally resulted in smaller defects.  The type of defect depended on the boundary conditions between the two parts and the flow of polymer that had thermally expanded during welding (flash).  If weld flash flowed into gaps between the two plates, rib defects were always observed.  If flash flowed elsewhere and no gaps existed between the plates, sink marks occurred.  Finite element modeling was used to qualitatively validate these observations.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Moral Responsibility and Preconditions of Moral Criticism

contributor:
Kumar, Rahul
Philosophy

subject:
Free will
Moral responsibility
Determinism
Mechanism
Peter Strawson
Moral Sense
David Hume
Immanuel Kant

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Philosophy) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-05 16:42:43.601

abstract: Traditionally, the central threat to the defensibility of the range of practices and attitudes constitutive of moral criticism has been seen to be posed by the Causal Thesis, the view that all actions have antecedent causes to which they are linked by causal laws of the kind that govern other events in the universe. In such a world, agents lack the sort of underived origination and agency required for the appropriateness of moral criticism. However, Peter Strawson’s “Freedom and Resentment” marks a move away from a metaphysical conception of agency and conditions of the appropriateness of moral criticism. On Strawson’s account, the problem of moral responsibility is centrally a normative problem, a problem about the moral norms that govern interpersonal relationships, and the conditions of appropriateness of the range of attitudes and sentiments occasioned by the agents’ fulfillment or non-fulfillment of these norms. In this dissertation I argue that the success of normative conceptions of conditions of appropriateness of moral criticism is contingent of the amelioration of the tension between two strategies in “Freedom and Resentment.” Naturalist interpretations hold that sentiments and practices constitutive of moral criticism are natural features of human psychological constitution, and therefore neither allow nor require justification. Rationalist interpretation, by contrast, are based on an analysis of conditions under which moral criticism can be justifiably modified or suspended. Both of these strategies, I argue, are false. The naturalistic interpretation is false not because of its inability to offer a plausible account of the conditions of justifiability of reactive attitudes, but rather because of its inability to offer a principled account of the way moral norms are grounded. The rationalistic interpretation, in turn, not only relies on an implausible psychological account of conditions of responsible agency, but puts an unacceptable emphasis on the agent’s intention. A plausible interpretation of the normative strategy requires emphasizing not only the significance of attitudes and feelings, but also the role reasons play in constituting moral norms and justifying moral criticism

abstract: PhD


title: The Match Game: Investigating the Effect of Message Framing on Parents’ Intentions to Vaccinate Their Children Against HPV

subject:
Health Promotion
Message Framing
Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
HPV Vaccine

abstract: Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-07 23:06:25.757

abstract: In Canada, parental acceptance and uptake of the HPV vaccine has been low.  There is a need for more effective HPV vaccination health messages for parents.  Whether a message is framed in terms of the benefits of engaging in the behaviour (gain frame), the costs of failing to engage in the behaviour (loss frame) or both the benefits and the costs (mixed frame) has potential to impact parents’ decision making. The appropriate frame of a message may depend on the recipient’s sex and involvement with the health issue.  The purpose of this study was to investigate the persuasiveness of gain-, loss- and mixed-framed messages on mothers’ and fathers’ intentions to have their young son or daughter vaccinated against HPV.  The study used a 3 Frame x 2 Sex of Parent x 2 Sex of Child design.  We randomly assigned participants (n=367) to read a framed message and then complete a 29-item questionnaire assessing theoretical determinants of parental consent for vaccination.  ANCOVAs revealed a three-way interaction for intentions to speak to a doctor about the HPV vaccine, F(2, 342)=3.66, p =.03, perceived severity of HPV, F(2, 347) = 3.10, p = .05, and for anxiety about their child contracting HPV, F(2, 342)=3.58, p=.02.  Effect size comparisons revealed that gain-framed messages seem to persuade parents who are the opposite sex to the child for whom they are considering the vaccine.  In turn, loss- and mixed-framed messages may persuade parents who are the same sex as the child for whom they are considering the vaccine.  Perceived severity of HPV and anxiety about HPV mediated the relationship between message frame and intentions for some parent-child dyads.  Findings have implications for constructing effective messages encouraging parents to consider having their child vaccinated against HPV.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Comparing Naïve Bayes Classifiers with Support Vector Machines for Predicting Protein Subcellular Location Using Text Features

contributor:
Shatkay, Hagit
Blostein, Dorothea
Computing

subject:
Text Mining
Protein Subcellular Location

abstract: Thesis (Master, Computing) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-06 11:06:47.613

abstract: Proteins play many roles in the body, and the task of understanding how proteins function is very challenging. Determining a protein’s location within the cell (also referred to as the subcellular location) helps shed light on the function of that protein. Protein subcellular location can be inferred through experimental methods or predicted using computational systems. In particular, we focus on two existing computational systems, namely EpiLoc and HomoLoc, that use features derived from text (abstracts of technical papers), and apply a support vector machine (SVM) classifier to classify proteins into their respective locations. Both EpiLoc and HomoLoc’s prediction accuracy is comparable to that of state-of-the-art protein location prediction systems. However, in addition to accuracy, other factors such as training efficiency must be considered in evaluating the quality of a location prediction system. In this thesis, we replace the SVM classifier in EpiLoc and HomoLoc, by a naïve Bayes classifier and by a novel classifier which we call the Mean Weight Text classifier. The Mean Weight Text classifier and the naïve Bayes classifier are simple to implement and execute efficiently. In addition, naïve Bayes classifiers have been shown effective in the context of protein location prediction and are considered preferable to SVM due to clarity in explaining the process used to derive the results. Evaluating the performance of these classifiers on existing data sets, we find that SVM classifiers have a slightly higher accuracy than naïve Bayes and Mean Weight Text classifiers. This slight advantage is offset by the simplicity and efficiency offered by naïve Bayes and Mean Weight Text classifiers. Moreover, we find that the Mean Weight Text classifier has a slightly higher accuracy than the naïve Bayes classifier.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Trunk postural demands of physical occupational activities for women in Benin

contributor:
Dumas, Geneviève A.
Mechanical and Materials Engineering

subject:
musculoskeletal injuries
head load carriage
pregnancy
back pain
occupational activities
Africa

abstract: Thesis (Master, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-07 16:23:53.56

abstract:
Women in Benin commonly participate in physically demanding activities that involve the carriage of heavy loads on the head and back. These strenuous tasks combined with pregnancy can result in back pain that may persist after delivery in some cases. The objective of this study was to examine how the trunk postures of pregnant women in Benin were affected by their occupational activities. This study also examined trunk postures, as well as postures of the head relative to the trunk, in the specific task of carrying loads on the head. Finally, the instrument used in this study to measure trunk postures, the Virtual CorsetTM  (VC) (Microstrain, Williston, VT, USA), was validated against a system of potentiometers.
Questionnaires completed by 26 pregnant and 25 non-pregnant subjects revealed that 58% of pregnant women suffered from back pain since the start of pregnancy. An average of 328 instances of trunk flexion at angles larger than 60° were recorded during the workdays of 17 pregnant women, while 66 of those flexions events were held for more than four seconds. Furthermore, an average of 36% of the recorded workday was spent in trunk flexion at angles exceeding 20°. Trunk postural data, at C7 and S1, as well as sagittal positions of the head relative to the trunk were compared between pregnant and non-pregnant subjects and between unloaded and loaded walking conditions for the specific task of head load carriage. These comparisons showed that load on the head significantly increased upper trunk extension and lateral bending of the upper trunk towards the left during walking. Motion of the head relative to the trunk and motion of the upper trunk significantly decreased in the loaded condition and was compensated by increased motion at the sacrum level.
In the validation study, the VC was moved at different speeds to observe the effects of accelerations on the angle measurements. Root mean square difference between the angles measured by the VC and the potentiometers were all below 5° and 6° for flexion-extension and lateral bending, respectively, with the exception of rapid movements where errors were slightly larger.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Identification of TULP3 as a negative regulator of Hedgehog signalling in the mouse

contributor:
Petkovich, Martin
Biochemistry

subject:
Hedgehog signalling
Embryonic development
Congenital malformations
Mouse genetics

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Biochemistry) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-08 13:48:24.258

abstract: The Hedgehog (Hh) family of secreted signalling factors play diverse roles in animal development. In mammals, the Hh ortholog Sonic hedgehog (Shh) is critical for the proper formation of the limbs, central nervous system, and axial skeleton, amoung other tissues. Mutations affecting the function of this pathway during development have severe consequences to the developing embryo and can cause birth defects in humans. Inappropriate activation of the pathway in adult tissues has also been implicated in several human cancers. In recent years several unexpected regulatory factors of the pathway during embryogenesis and in the adult have emerged through genetic studies in the mouse, such as proteins involved in vesicle transport and in the formation and function of primary (non-motile) cilia. Evidence is presented here that the mouse Tubby gene family member Tubby-like protein 3 (Tulp3) plays an important negative regulatory function in the Hh signalling pathway during embryogenesis, a role not previously associated with the Tubby proteins. Embryos lacking Tulp3 develop severe neural tube defects and polydactyly, along with ectopic activation of Shh target genes in the developing limbs and CNS, and altered Shh mediated axon guidance in the developing spinal cord. Moreover, Tulp3 was found to act largely independently of Shh, as compound Tulp3/Shh mutant embryos retain expression of Shh target genes and related abnormalities. Finally, the Tulp3 protein was found to localize to the primary cilium in cultured cells, implicating Tulp3, and possibly other Tubby proteins as regulators of cilium based signalling. These results have important implications in the understanding of the regulation of the Hh pathway, and in the emergence of Hh related birth defects and tumourigenesis.

abstract: PhD


title: An Investigation of the Flow Through Check Valves in a Uniflowtype Two-Stroke Engine

contributor:
Ciccarelli, Gabriel
Mechanical and Materials Engineering

subject:
Mechanical Engineering
Engine
Two-Stroke

abstract: Thesis (Master, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-12 17:09:58.81

abstract:
An innovative two-stroke engine has been under development at Queen’s University.
Traditional crankcase-scavenged two-stroke engines have laboured to meet emissions standards and achieve fuel economy comparable to four-stroke engines. The engine in question makes use of a modified Eaton-type supercharger to enable air-only scavenging, with this it utilizes direct fuel injection which occurs after the exhaust ports have closed, these two elements combine to
eliminate the combustion of lubricating oil in the cylinder and short-circuiting of the fuel-air mixture into the exhaust. By having passive check valves in the cylinder head to regulate the inflow of scavenging air, and exhaust ports located near bottom centre this results in a top-down uniflow-scavenged configuration, as well as retaining a simplistic engine design. In the two-stroke cycle, using the intake charge to replace the combustion products with fresh air during
scavenging is critical to engine performance. In this engine the scavenging charge is produced by a set of passive intake check valves, and because of this the scavenging timing is important.  These valves are important because they govern the volume of combustion products that are forced out of the cylinder during scavenging, and hence the efficiency of combustion in the engine. To evaluate the engine design criteria, a validated computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model was used to offer insight into how the in-cylinder flow developed during scavenging. The CFD model of this engine was used to test different check-valve geometries to see how they affect the scavenging flow in the cylinder. The goal of this is to assist in entraining more of the combustion products which would result in more being exhausted from the cylinder. A more favourable design was found, and a design produced to be taken onto the next step of testing.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: MRI-Guided Prostate Motion Tracking using Multislice-to-Volume Registration

contributor:
Fichtinger, Gabor
Electrical and Computer Engineering

subject:
Prostate
Motion Tracking
MRI
Slice-to-Volume Registration

abstract: Thesis (Master, Electrical & Computer Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-13 16:41:52.223

abstract:
MRI-guided prostate needle biopsy requires compensation for organ motion between
target planning and needle placement. Two questions are studied and answered in this
work: is rigid registration sufficient in tracking the targets with a maximum error of
3 mm (smaller than average prostate tumor size) and how many intra-operative slices
are required to obtain this accuracy? We developed rigid and deformable multislice-
to-volume registration algorithms for tracking the biopsy targets within the prostate.
Three orthogonal plus additional transverse intra-operative slices were acquired in
the approximate center of the prostate and registered with a high-resolution target
planning volume. Simulated intra-operative data, phantom data, and MRI-guided
robotic prostate biopsy data were used to assess tracking accuracy. Registration tests
on simulated intra-operative data with 3, 4, and 5 slices were performed to evaluate
the effect on registration error and time. Results: Using three orthogonal slices pro-
vides sufficient accuracy. Convergence test results on phantom images demonstrated
100% success rate for initial misalignment of 5mm. Average registration errors for
the patient data were 2.55mm and 2.05mm for the rigid and deformable algorithms,
respectively. The algorithm was able to capture rigid biopsy target displacements
of maximum 8mm and non-rigid displacements of maximum 1.5mm. Rigid tracking
appears to be promising. Deformable registration does not seem warranted.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Civilizing Madness: Sadomasochism, Imperialism and the Formation of German National Identity, 1880-1914

contributor:
King, Samantha J.
Kinesiology and Health Studies

subject:
History of Psychiatry
German Imperialism
Queer Theory
Foucault
Critical Race Theory
Sadomasochism

abstract: Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-14 00:22:40.648

abstract: In Ann Stoler’s (1995) erudite critique of the absence of race in Foucault’s History of Sexuality Volume 1, she asks if any of the figures of sexual regulation Foucault takes up could have “exist[ed] as objects of knowledge and discourse in the nineteenth century without a racially erotic counterpoint, without reference to the libidinal energies of the savage, the primitive, the colonized?” (pp. 6-7). Recognizing that the regulation of sexuality was often enforced through psychiatric mechanisms, one might also add that discourses of wellness and illness, the normal and the pathological, were also discursively framed in relation to the colonial other. This paper explores how the medicalizing discourses of s/m in nineteenth century sexology were mutually constituted with Germany’s coeval imperial expansion and regulation of national identity. I take up the conditions of possibility for the formation of sadism and masochism within psychiatric discourse, such as Germany’s national unification in 1871, Germany’s colonial expansion in East and Southwest Africa from 1884 to 1919, and the exogenous criticisms of Germany’s colonial policy. Such circumstances provided impetus for Germany to define savagery and civility through the regulation of sexual practices within Germany’s national borders. Though s/m is presently most often tied to discourses of imperialism, through shared tropes such as master-slave relationships, flogging, bondage, and collars, I hope to complicate such perspectives by examining the relationships of imperialism and nationalism to psychiatric perspectives on s/m. By conducting a close reading of psychiatric, sexological, and psychoanalytic descriptions of sadism and masochism throughout Germany’s imperialist expansionist era, I argue that the pathologization of s/m was as much about the regulation of Germany’s racial identity as it was about the regulation of sexuality.

abstract: M.A.


title: Endometrial Cancer and Pre-Malignant Conditions in Young Women: Survey of Endometrial Sampling Practices by Canadian Gynecologists

contributor:
Mackillop, William J.
Peng, Paul Yingwei
Ouellette-Kuntz, Hélène
Community Health and Epidemiology

subject:
Endometrial Cancer
Young Women

abstract: Thesis (Master, Community Health & Epidemiology) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-14 15:06:07.786

abstract:
Objective: To identify the physician-, patient- and health-system-related factors that influence gynecologists’ decision to recommend endometrial sampling in young women (less than 40 years) with abnormal uterine bleeding
Study methods: A mail-based survey study was conducted using the Salant-Dillman method with 4 points of contact over 9 weeks. All Canadian obstetrician/gynecologists were initially surveyed (N=1746), receiving either French or English questionnaires. Eligible respondents were gynecologists practicing in Canada who treat these young women (N=834). Order response bias was taken into consideration by mailing two versions of the survey. Categorical data were analyzed using Pearson’s Chi-square statistics. A logistic regression with mixed effect model was performed to determine the odds of sampling the endometrium, using physician as random factor.
Results: Overall response rate was 56.5%. The majority of respondents were generalists (83.6%). 70.3% of respondents have had young patients with malignant or pre-malignant endometrial conditions. Physicians ≤ 39 years have had less experience with these patients (59.6%, p=0.002) as have physicians practicing in communities without ob/gyn residents (35.2%, p=0.006). Sampling method was predominantly by office pipelle (79.7%), with younger physicians and female respondents employing this method most frequently (p=0.0001).
In case scenarios which explored the importance of four patient-related risk factors (obesity, irregular cycles, nulliparity and older age), on the decision to sample, 98.8% of respondents would sample a young woman presenting with all four risk factors, as opposed to 8.8% who would sample if the patient did not have any of these characteristics. Obesity and irregular cycles was the next most important combination of risk factors prompting sampling in 87.3% of physicians.
In the logistic regression, the odds ratio to proceed with endometrial sampling was 2.23 (95% CI 1.64-3.03) if a physician had previous experience with young women diagnosed with endometrial cancer or a pre-malignant condition, and was 1.45 (95% CI 1.05-2.01) if the physician was female.
Conclusion: Patient and physician factors influenced the decision to proceed with sampling the endometrium of young women with abnormal uterine bleeding, whereas the health-system factors studied in this survey did not seem to play a strong role.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Tracking Long-Term Holocene Climate Trends in Lake 239 (Experimental Lakes Area, NW Ontario) Using Diatoms, Pollen, and Charcoal

contributor:
Cumming, Brian F.
Biology

subject:
Paleolimnology
Climate Change
Holocene
Eutrophication
Pollen
Charcoal

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Biology) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-15 09:54:18.653

abstract:
The boreal forest region of Canada is climatically sensitive and may be impacted by anthropogenic-induced climatic changes. The results of this multi-proxy paleolimnological study contribute detailed information on changes to the boreal forest in northwestern (NW) Ontario, showing unequivocal changes in lake and forest structure due to climate during the warmer mid-Holocene. This study uses diatoms, pollen, and charcoal reconstructions to better understand the timing and extent of climate-related changes in Lake 239, Experimental Lakes Area (ELA), in NW Ontario throughout the Holocene with an emphasis on the warmer mid-Holocene.
Diatom analysis revealed changes in water quality based on analysis of species assemblages and quantitative inferences of total phosphorus from a deep central core. Lake levels at least 8-m lower than today were inferred from a near-shore core and were concurrent with an increase in nutrient-rich diatom assemblages, an increase in diatom accumulation, and a decrease in chrysophytes relative to diatoms in the central core. A concurrent increase in pollen such as Cupressaceae and Ambrosia indicate more open boreal forest between ~4500-8000 cal yr BP. Pollen-based inferences of temperature suggest an increase on average of 1-2°C warmer than today with winter temperatures up to 4°C warmer. The pollen inferences also suggest enhanced precipitation, but with increased evaporation/evapotranspiration resulting in reduced moisture availability overall. A transect of cores surrounding ELA was synthesized using pollen-based reconstructions of temperature and precipitation to assess regional changes. All sites show shifts in pollen assemblages indicating a warmer mid-Holocene; prairie sites to the west show mid-Holocene decreases in precipitation relative to today, whereas sites near or east of ELA show consistent increases in precipitation, but with enhanced evaporation. Charcoal analysis shows an increase in charcoal accumulation during the mid-Holocene warm period compared to the early and late Holocene, suggesting a more active fire regime. Fire return intervals based on type-M charcoal show a pronounced decrease during the early-to-mid Holocene period and a corresponding increase in fire frequency, whereas fire frequency derived from total charcoal was virtually unchanged over the Holocene. This study helps fill a knowledge gap in NW Ontario noted by several large regional assessments.

abstract: PhD