title: When Race Displaces: Queer/Race Geographies and the Politics of Difference

subject:
Social Geography
Critical Race
Queer Studies
Politics of Difference

abstract:
This thesis explores the spatialities of oppression between individuals involved in activist organizations. Oppression is a concept which has been extensively examined and challenged in feminist and anti-racist geographies. Yet those who practice anti-oppressive politics are still under the influence of those systems, as resistance is also influenced and produced through systems of oppression. This research project draws on the experiences of queer and racialized individuals in order to explore how oppression is enacted within communities which seek to challenge domination and marginalization.
Qualitative interviews with participants reveal patterns of oppression and how processes of human differentiation take place within their respective community organizations. Participants’ constructions of identity and community provide insight into the prevalence of the ideal of community, and the ways in which communities may be failing to actualize solidarity across difference. Namely, they discuss how normatively white queer organizations can often struggle with issues of racialization. Conceptualizations of identity are situated within theories of intersectionality and performativity, revealing uneven affective geographies and tensions of identity politics. Using the framework of the politics of difference, the construction of difference is examined in relationship to the grounds of race and gender/sexual identity. While the affirmation of difference can be desirable, doing so requires re-scaled, context-specific approaches to avoid generalizations which lead to the reinscription of marginalization. Queer/race social positionalities are negotiated and experienced in a multitude of ways, exposing how locations of community are simultaneously locations of exclusion.


title: Advances in Metal-Catalyzed C–H Borylation and Multicomponent Allylic Substitution Reactions

contributor:
Evans, P. Andrew
Snieckus, Victor A.
Chemistry

rights: Queen's University's Thesis/Dissertation Non-Exclusive License for Deposit to QSpace and Library and Archives Canada

rights: ProQuest PhD and Master's Theses International Dissemination Agreement

rights: Intellectual Property Guidelines at Queen's University

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:
multicomponent reactions
C-H activation
allylic substitution
Mizoroki-Heck reaction
iridium-catalyzed C-H borylation

abstract: Thesis (Master, Chemistry) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-23 18:05:24.335

abstract:
Chapter one of this thesis describes the iridium-catalyzed ortho-selective C–H borylation reaction of tertiary benzamides. An iridium(I) complex paired with an electron-deficient phosphine ligand allows for efficient C–H activation and borylation using B2pin2. N,N-diethylbenzamides are challenging substrates for the reaction, however a variety of N,N-diisopropylbenzamides are well tolerated, affording the borylated products in generally high yields and good to excellent regioselectivities. This methodology acts as a complementary method to both Directed ortho Metalation (DoM) and a previously developed meta-selective borylation. We have demonstrated the utility of these boron-containing products by further cross-coupling reactions and DoM chemistry.

Chapter two of this thesis describes our efforts towards a transition metal-catalyzed 3-component reaction, combining C–H activation and allylic substitution chemistry. Preliminary results were fraught with issues of compatibility of the required conditions for these two powerful reactions, and therefore a metal-catalyzed 3-component reaction using an aryl halide, diene, and nucleophile was explored as an alternative. Results indicate that this reaction is feasible using cyclic amine nucleophiles, generating aminated proucts containing a new stereogenic center. Attempts to use additional nucleophiles, as well as initial efforts to make the reaction proceed in an enantioselective fashion, will be described.

abstract: The contents have not yet been published, so should be restricted to prevent competitors getting an unfair advantage on the work described.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Ethics of Listening: Examining Methods and Praxes Toward a Community-Centred Art

contributor:
Robertson, Clive
Art History

subject:
Critical Pedagogy
Research-Creation
Activism
Listening
Ethics
Performance Art
Ethics Review
Community-Centred Art
Visual Art
Socially-Engaged Art
Cultural Studies
Contemporary Art
Relational Aesthetics
Community Arts

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Art History) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-24 10:11:34.423

abstract:
This dissertation describes methods and practices that help define the making of a “community-centred art.” My thesis is guided by my primary concern with three overlapping theoretical areas: art as activism, listening studies and ethical research. This thesis asks the following questions: What models of ethical research and collective cultural production are possible and suitable in that they make sense, and make change, for those people and communities involved in-situ?; What practices of teaching and learning can generate and encourage practices of “co-creativity”?
	My study locates contemporary praxes from the mid-1990s to the present within a historical continuum in relation to particular discourses and sites of practice in Canada, the United States, Ireland and the United Kingdom. It documents how what we consider “contemporary” extends back into the period I will bracket as the community arts movement in Britain (c. 1960s-1992) with deeper historical roots in much earlier examples of popular arts.
	My move to situate “the contemporary” within a historical continuum diverges from recent writings by those visual arts critics and theorists who reformulated “public art” (Lacy 1995; Jacob 1995) through concepts of “connective aesthetics” (Gablik 1991, 1995a) and “dialogical” forms of practice (Kester 2000, 2004). Most known are the now popularised forms of “relational” practice, accelerated by the writing of the French Conceptual Art critic Nicolas Bourriaud (1998).
	Within this study, the practice of attentiveness to one another is described through modes of listening, where listening is an oral and auditory practice, as much as it is linguistic and multi-sensorial. I argue that observations on listening – because listening must necessarily be situated within sociality – require an ethical framework. What I am calling an ethics of listening therefore seeks to understand listening in a first instance as a disposition that is ideologically bound by ethics.

abstract: PhD


title: Aqueous Cu(0) Mediated Reversible Deactivation Radical Polymerization of 2-Hydroxyethyl Acrylate

contributor:
Cunningham, Michael F.
Hutchinson, Robin A.
Chemical Engineering

subject:
2-hydroxyethyl acrylate
Biomaterial
Low Copper Catalyst
Aqueous ATRP

abstract: Thesis (Master, Chemical Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-24 17:29:28.648

abstract:
Reversible deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) of 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate in D2O was studied using Cu(0) wire and Me6TREN, with different target chain lengths (TCL), amount of initial Cu(II)Br2, and the addition sequence of ligand. Gel formation occurred under most conditions, with the amount of gel formation reduced with short target chain lengths, increased concentration of initial Cu(II)Br2, and when ligand was added with the Cu(II)Br2. This result was explained by the reduced concentration of adsorbed active polymer species on the Cu(0) wire surface through increased desorption rate and deactivation rate on the Cu(0) wire surface, respectively.

Gel formation was eliminated using a two-step Cu(0) in situ mediation process, with experiments focusing on the effects of chain length, initial Cu(I)Br, excess NaBr, temperature and residual O2 (brought by syringe for monomer and initiator transferring) on the kinetics and molecular weight (MW) control of the system. There is no visible gel formation with the TCL range from 20 to 800 using this procedure, a result mainly attributed to the lowered number of adsorbed active species per Cu(0) particle, which are highly dispersed, greatly reducing the probability of crosslinking. The concentration of adsorbed active species on Cu(0) particle surface is the key factor controlling polymerization control and the formation of a high molecular weight (MW) shoulder seen under many conditions. Thus, physical processes such as adsorption and desorption combine with kinetic processes such as activation, propagation and deactivation on the Cu(0) surface and in the solution to influence the ability to control chain growth. Shorter target chain lengths, low activator concentration, high deactivator concentration and higher temperature (22 ℃ rather than 0 ℃) all reduce the concentration of adsorbed active species on the Cu(0) surface during the polymerization, and thus improve control. The study indicates that lower concentration of adsorbed active species is the requirement for synthesizing well defined P(HEA) in the aqueous solution, with low Đ and without high MW shoulder and insoluble gel.

Based on this insight, well defined P(HEA) with low Đ (~1.2) and no high MW shoulder was synthesized when DPn was less than 160 in pure aqueous solvent (D2O and H2O). Higher MW P(HEA) (TCL=400, 87% conversion) with  Đ value of 1.16 was synthesized within 75 min using ca. 250 ppm copper in D2O at 22 ℃, however with a high MW shoulder observed, the first time that high MW P(HEA) with low Đ has been synthesized using such low copper levels in the purely aqueous environment.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Use your legs, not your back: An investigation into the links between lower body work and spine angles and moments during paramedic related lifting tasks

contributor:
Fischer, Steven L.
Kinesiology and Health Studies

subject:
Lifting
Paramedics
Lower Body Power
Lower Body Work
Spine Angles
Spine Moments
Vertical Jump

abstract: Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-24 19:08:14.277

abstract:
Background: Paramedics commonly suffer back injuries as a result of lifting. Improving lifting technique is often cited as an injury prevention approach; however traditional postural-based technique classifications have yet to identify an optimal technique. Instead, this thesis explored the hypothesis that an increased contribution of work done by the lower body relative to the trunk will be associated with lower peak sagittal plane trunk angles and moments experienced by paramedics while performing common paramedic lifting – a spine sparing strategy. Additionally this thesis explored whether higher peak lower body power capacity (calculated using vertical jump scores) was associated with reduced trunk angles and moments during lifting.
Methods: Thirty-three healthy paramedics performed three lifting tasks and completed a vertical jump test. A 3D linked-segment model computed sagittal plane trunk moments and angles, as well as joint power and the corresponding work done by the ankle, knee, hip, and trunk during lifting. Peak lower body power capacity was computed using vertical jump height. A correlational analysis determined the associations between lower body work contribution, lower body power capacity (calculated from the vertical jump score), and peak sagittal trunk angles and moments.
Results: Paramedics that completed the lifting tasks with an increased contribution of work from the lower body also experienced lower peak spine angles and moments in the sagittal plane. Peak lower body power capacity was not associated with any variable.
Conclusion: These results provide partial support for the overarching thesis, where an increased contribution of work from the lower body provided a spine sparing lifting strategy. This finding supports the need to continue coaching and training paramedics to generate more work from the lower body while lifting, as a spine sparing tactic. However, future work should try to identify relevant screening tools that can quickly determine if a paramedic is likely to adopt this strategy, or if they should be re-directed for more coaching and training.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: The role of theory of mind in the relation between victimization and depressive symptoms

contributor:
Kelley, Elizabeth
Psychology

subject:
Victimization
Theory of mind
Depressive symptoms

abstract: Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-25 10:56:29.736

abstract: Theory of mind (ToM) is the ability to identify others’ mental states, and use this information to explain or predict others’ behaviours. Typically developing adolescents use this ability with varying degree of efficiency and accuracy to navigate social interactions. The current study explored how individual differences in ToM skills impacts the direct relation between victimization and depressive symptoms, and the indirect relation through perceived social support. Individuals who have difficulty identifying and reasoning about others’ mental states may have more difficulty accurately identifying a perpetrators intentions or beliefs. As such, it was hypothesized that the relation between victimization and depressive symptoms would become stronger as an individual performed better on ToM decoding and reasoning tasks. Previous literature suggests that adolescents who are victimized believe they have less support available to them, which in turn is associated with more depressive symptoms. As such, it was also hypothesized that this relation among victimization, perceived social support and depressive symptoms would be stronger as individuals performed better on ToM decoding and reasoning tasks. Results partially supported both of these hypotheses. The current study provides evidence that performance on a ToM reasoning task – but not decoding tasks – moderates the relation between victimization and depressive symptoms. The results also provide modest evidence that the relation among victimization, perceived social support and depressive symptoms becomes stronger as individuals perform better on the Faux Pas task. The implications for future research and treatment considerations are discussed.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Distributed Online Optimization on time-varying networks

contributor:
Gharesifard, Bahman
Linder, Tamás
Mathematics and Statistics

subject:
Multi-agent Systems
Sensor Networks
Distributed Optimization
Subgradient Algorithm
Method of Multipliers
Online Optimization

abstract: Thesis (Master, Mathematics & Statistics) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-31 09:59:41.261

abstract:
This thesis introduces two classes of discrete-time distributed online optimization algorithms, with a group of agents which communicate over a network.  At each time, a private convex objective function is revealed to each agent. In the next time step, each agent updates its state using its own objective function and the information gathered from its immediate in-neighbours at that time. We design algorithms distributed over the network topologies, which guarantee that the individual regret, the diﬀerence between the network cost incurred by the agent’s states estimation and the cost incurred by the best ﬁxed choice, grows only sublinearly. One algorithm is based on gradient-ﬂow, which provably works for a sequence of time-varying uniformly strongly connected graphs. The other one is based on Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers, which works on ﬁxed undirected graphs and gives an explicit
regret bound in terms of the size of the network. We implement the proposed algorithms on a sensor network and the results demonstrate the good performance for both algorithms.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Neurophysiological Traces of L-Dopa Induced Dyskinesia in the Bed Nucleus Of The Stris Terminalis of 6-OHDA Lesioned Rats

contributor:
Dumont, Eric
Neuroscience Studies

subject:
BNST
Parkinson's Disease
Electrophysiology
Dyskinesia

abstract: Thesis (Master, Neuroscience Studies) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-25 12:22:41.007

abstract: The gold standard treatment for Parkinson’s disease (PD), L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (l-dopa), results in involuntary movements referred to as l-dopa-induced dyskinesia (LID). The mechanisms of LIDs are poorly known and there is no current strategy to efficiently prevent or control LIDs. Recent evidence has found that the expression of several immediate early genes positively correlates with LID severity in a basal forebrain structure, the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST). Furthermore, evidence shows that dopamine D1-like receptor (D1R)-dependent overexpression of IEGs in the oval (ov) and juxtacapsular (jx) subregions of the BNST may contribute to this phenomenon. Therefore this study aimed to examine how a D1R agonist modulates synaptic transmission in the ov and jxBNST of rats with and without LIDs using in vitro electrophysiology. Male Sprague Dawley rats (n=34) surgically received unilateral 6-OHDA lesions (2.5 µl at 3µg/µl) in the medial forebrain bundle. Three weeks after lesioning and upon occurrence of  PD symptoms as measured by a stepping test, rats received daily injections of saline, or l-dopa (6mg/kg, i.p.) in benserazide (15mg/kg, i.p.), or benserazide alone. Benserazide is a peripheral inhibitor of DOPA-decarboxylase used to increase the central availability of dopamine (DA) and is generally administered with l-dopa, and thus was used as our vehicle control. On the 10th injection day, rats were assessed for the severity of three subtypes of dyskinesia: forelimb (jerks of the contralateral forelimb), orolingual (twitches of the jaw and tongue) and axial (contralateral twisted posturing). Rats were then euthanized one hour post injection and whole cell patch clamping was done in both the jx and ov areas of the BNST. Chronic l-dopa treatment did not alter strength at excitatory synapses in the ovBNST or jxBNST as measured by AMPA/NMDA ratios. Likewise, L-dopa treatment had no significant effect also D1-mediated modulation of GABAA or AMPA synaptic transmission in either the ov or jx BNST. Together, the data suggest that neither change in strength at excitatory synapses or D1R-modulation of synaptic transmission in the ov or jxBNST are LID neurophysiological traces in this area of the rat brain.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: What's love got to do with it?!: Teaching as a 'labour of love' and Ontario's 2012-13 labour disputes.

contributor:
Burfoot, Annette J.
Sociology

subject:
Labour
Feminist political economy
Education
Foucault
Historico-critical analysis
Teachers' unions
Ontario
Levinas
Teaching
Autonomy
Collectivity
Selflessness
Neoliberalism
Discourse
Care
Settler-colonialism
Motherhood
Love

abstract: Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-27 12:49:17.55

abstract: The following entails a “historico-critical” (Foucault [1984] 2010:46) analysis of the connection between teaching and love encapsulated in public, political and media discourses during the 2012-13 education labour disputes in Ontario, Canada. Examining the history of teaching as a ‘feminized’ profession within a capitalist, patriarchal, settler-colonial state, I suggest that discourses constituting teachers as selfless carers are intimately linked to visions of motherhood and white supremacy. Furthermore, I suggest that the concept of selfless love operates as a tool for depoliticization, used primarily against women and others within a society subsumed by neoliberal rhetoric. Ultimately, thinking outside of and working against this conception of love as something inherently selfless can help us elaborate a more egalitarian vision of love which values both autonomy and collectivity through an acknowledgement of Levinasian selfhood.

abstract: M.A.


title: Theory and applications of light-matter interactions in quantum dot nanowire photonic crystal systems

subject:
Engineered Quantum Systems
Quantum Light-Matter Interactions
Nanophotonics
Photonic Crystals
Quantum Optics

abstract: Thesis (Master, Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-25 16:11:19.289

abstract: Photonic crystal slabs coupled with quantum dipole emitters allow one to control quantum light-matter interactions and are a promising platform for quantum information science technologies; however their development has been hindered by inherent fabrication issues. Inspired by recent nanowire growth techniques and opportunities in fundamental quantum nanophotonics, in this thesis we theoretically investigate light-matter interactions in nanowire photonic crystal structures with embedded quantum dots, a novel engineered quantum system, for applications in quantum optics. We develop designs for currently fabricable structures, including finite-size effects and radiative loss, and investigate their fundamental properties using photonic band structure calculations, finite-difference time-domain computations, and a rigorous photonic Green function technique. We study and engineer realistic nanowire photonic crystal waveguides for single photon applications whose performance can exceed that of state-of-the-art slab photonic crystals, and design a directed single photon source. We then develop a powerful quantum optical formalism using master equation techniques and the photonic Green function to understand the quantum dynamics of these exotic structures in open and lossy photonic environments. This is used to explore the coupling of a pair of quantum dots in a nanowire photonic crystal waveguide, demonstrating long-lived entangled states and a system with a completely controllable Hamiltonian capable of simulating a wide variety of quantum systems and entering a unique regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics characterized by strong exchange-splitting. Lastly, we propose and study a "metamaterial" polariton waveguide comprised of a nanowire photonic crystal waveguide with an embedded quantum dot in each unit cell, and explain the properties of both infinite and finite-sized structures using a Green function approach. We show that an external quantum dot can be strongly coupled to these novel waveguides, an achievement which has never been demonstrated in a solid-state platform.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: The Regulation of Intracellular Ca2+ and Secretion in the Bag Cell Neurons of Aplysia Californica

contributor:
Magoski, Neil S.
Physiology

subject:
Bag Cell Neurons
Afterdischarge

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Physiology) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-25 16:37:58.706

abstract:
Neurons enter states of heightened excitability and secretory capacity to initiate fundamental behaviours. This is exemplified by the bag cell neurons of the marine mollusc, Aplysia californica. These neuroendocrine cells undergo an afterdischarge to secrete egg-laying hormone (ELH) and initiate reproduction. I examined the role of two cellular signaling pathways that contribute to the afterdischarge: Ca2+ and protein kinase C (PKC). Investigating these systems provides insight into the cellular mechanisms underlying fundamental behaviours.
Intracellular Ca2+ modulates excitability and initiates secretion in the bag cell neurons. I determined how Ca2+ sources and removal systems control intracellular Ca2+. My data revealed that the mitochondria strongly influence Ca2+ signaling in cultured bag cell neurons, as they first buffer voltage-gated Ca2+ influx and subsequently release Ca2+ to the cytosol, in a form of Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release (CICR). Moreover, the degree of mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake and release was shown to be dictated by the function of the plasma membrane Ca2+ ATPase. In addition to voltage-gated Ca2+ influx, I characterized the involvement of Ca2+ handling systems with other distinct Ca2+ sources, including CICR and the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger as well as store-operated Ca2+ influx and the sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA).
PKC is implicated in facilitating secretion during the afterdischarge. I tested the impact of PKC on secretion using capacitance tracking under whole-cell voltage-clamp. This technique assays the changes in plasma membrane area that occur during vesicle exocytosis. I demonstrated that PKC activation enhanced Ca2+ influx and potentiated stimulus-evoked secretion. This occurred as a result of the plasma membrane insertion of a covert voltage-gated Ca2+ channel, Apl Cav2, alongside the basal voltage-gated Ca2+ channel, Apl Cav1.
iii
I provided mechanistic detail of how the interplay between Ca2+ sources and removal systems governs the patterns of free cytosolic Ca2+. These properties have implications for the Ca2+-dependent signaling pathways which mediate long lasting changes in neuronal excitability and secretion. Furthermore, my work demonstrates that protein kinases can dynamically amplify secretory output by rapidly recruiting additional voltage-gated Ca2+ channels to the membrane. This form of facilitation likely enhances secretion during the afterdischarge, and ensures the initiation of reproductive behaviour in Aplysia.

abstract: Some of the work enclosed in the thesis is yet to be published. As we intend to publish this work in peer reviewed journals, we would like to avoid any potential issues that may arise as a result of the thesis being made public.

abstract: PhD


title: Studying the Software Development Overhead of Build Systems

contributor:
Hassan, Ahmed E.
Adams, Bram
Computing

subject:
Build systems
Software release engineering
Mining software repositories
Software engineering

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Computing) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-25 19:51:13.654

abstract:
Software is developed at a rapid pace. Software development techniques like continuous delivery have shortened the time between official releases of a software system from months or years to a matter of minutes. At the heart of this rapid release cycle of continuously delivered software is the build system, i.e., the system that specifies how source code is translated into deliverables. An efficient build system that quickly produces updated versions of a software system is required to keep up with market competitors. However, the benefits of an efficient build system come at a cost --- build systems introduce overhead on the software development process.

In this thesis, we use historical data from a large collection of software projects to perform four empirical studies. The focus of these empirical studies is on two types of software development overhead that are introduced by the build system.

We first present three empirical studies that focus on the maintenance overhead introduced by the need to keep the build system in sync with the source code that it builds. We observe that: (1) although modern build technologies like Maven provide additional features, they tend to be prone to additional build maintenance activity and more prone to cloning, i.e., duplication of build logic, than older technologies like make are; (2) although typical cloning rates are higher in build systems than in other software artifacts (e.g., source code), there are commonly-adopted patterns of creative build system abstraction that can keep build cloning rates low; and (3) properties of source and test code changes can be used to train accurate classifiers that indicate whether a co-change to the build system is necessary.

We then present an empirical study that focuses on the execution overhead introduced by the slow nature of (re)generating system deliverables using a build system. We find that build optimization effort: (1) will yield more build performance improvement by focusing on build hotspots, i.e., files that are not only slow to rebuild, but also tend to change frequently; and (2) should be aligned with architectural refinement in order to yield the most benefit.

abstract: PhD


title: Reconceptualizing the Lived Experience of Games: A Phenomenological Analysis of the Single-Player Experience

contributor:
Beamish, Rob
Sociology

subject:
video games
immersion
virtual world
phenomenology

abstract: Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-27 08:29:36.318

abstract: This thesis examines the relationship between video games and players regarding lived experience. It revisits the classical debate of the idea of immersion and similar concepts in video games, challenging the concept of immersion by taking a phenomenological stance that sees a direct connection between the player and the game as opposed to their ontological separation. Using a blended phenomenological approach that draws from Alfred Schutz, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Pierre Bourdieu, and following the phenomenological method as outlined by Schutz (1932), the paper looks at four games from the Animal Crossing (2004, 2013) and Fallout (2008, 2010) series. The analysis examines Being and consciousness, meaning and meaning structures, projects of action, and the structuration of the social worlds of the game. The analysis will demonstrate that the ways in which people approach their everyday social world is very similar to the way that they approach the social world presented by the game, revealing a connection between worlds of experience through lived experience.

abstract: M.A.


title: An Analysis of The Gene Cluster Encoding The Biosynthesis Of The Fluorinated Natural Product Nucleocidin By Streptomyces calvus

contributor:
Zechel, L. David
Chemistry

subject:
Streptomyces
natural products

abstract: Thesis (Master, Chemistry) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-26 17:06:08.026

abstract: There is information in this thesis that has yet to be published. I would like the thesis metadata to be restricted as well.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Rhodium(I)-Catalyzed [(3+2+2)] Carbocyclization Reactions of ACPs in Total Synthesis: Towards the Preparation of Tremulane Sesquiterpene Natural Products

contributor:
Evans, P. Andrew
Chemistry

subject:
Rhodium
Organic Chemistry
Carbocyclization
Natural Products
Chemistry
Total Synthesis

abstract: Thesis (Master, Chemistry) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-28 11:22:56.201

abstract:
This thesis is divided into two main chapters. Chapter 1 focuses on transition metal-catalyzed higher-order carbocyclization reaction whilst Chapter 2 focuses on the total synthesis of tremulane sesquiterpene natural products.
Chapter one of this thesis describes the optimization and development of the diastereoselective rhodium-catalyzed intramolecular [(3+2+2)] carbocyclization reaction of dieneyne alkylidenecyclopropanes. The chapter commences with an introduction to transition metal-catalyzed higher-order carbocyclization reactions, with a strong focus on [3+2+2] carbocyclization reactions. Section 1.2 describes our development of the diastereoselective rhodium-catalyzed intramolecular [(3+2+2)] carbocyclization reaction. This section highlights the optimal reaction conditions, scope, and generality of our methodology.
Chapter two of this thesis focuses on the total synthesis of three tremulane sesquiterpene natural products. This section begins with an introduction to the tremulane family of natural products, followed by a summary of previous syntheses of two natural products. Section 2.1.4 highlights the challenges faced in the preparation of the core of the outlined target compounds. Following, section 2.1.5 outlines the successful generation of epi-(±)-tremulenolide A, epi-(±)-tremuelenediol A, and epi-(±)-ceriponol D.

abstract: This thesis contains currently unpublished work which is planned for publishing in the near future. We would like to restrict the thesis for 5 years to ensure the work is published in the literature before it is released to the public.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Imperial Volunteering: Women and Welfare in the Twentieth-Century British Empire

contributor:
den Otter, Sandra M.
Shenton, Robert W.
History

subject:
voluntarism
gender
social welfare
imperial history

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, History) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-26 21:13:24.922

abstract:
This thesis examines the rhetoric and practice of voluntary welfare work by British women within the twentieth-century British Empire. Voluntarism was an important component of the attention to colonial welfare and development that was a dominant theme of the ideology and practice of the last decades of the British Empire. Debated and defined during the 1930s, programs to enact welfare and development were implemented after the Second World War as part of a revived empire during the 1950s. These programs remained integral to post-colonial relationships after the rapid dismantling of empire in the 1960s. Examining the welfare component of twentieth-century imperial aspirations, this study follows the informal practitioners of colonial welfare—the British women residing in empire who through voluntary work contributed to both defining and delivering colonial welfare—considering the intersection of individual lives and imperial responsibilities.
This study offers a comparative and trans-imperial account of individual women engaged in voluntary efforts alongside a closer analysis of the rhetoric and reality of voluntarism in colonial Kenya. White women residing in the colonies contributed voluntarily to the provision of colonial health, education, and social services after the First World War: their efforts were both part of everyday life and entwined in the imperial politics of welfare, gender, and race. The phenomenon of imperial voluntarism represented continuity in the ideas and activities of white women on the colonial frontier, yet imperial voluntarism also represented change within the context of the particular conditions of twentieth-century empire. Chapters engage with themes of voluntary work and daily life, the politics of voluntary work, the relevance of voluntarism within an emerging post-war colonial welfare state, and the entanglement of imperial volunteers within the violence and political processes of decolonization.

abstract: To restrict rights to enable commercial publication.

abstract: PhD


title: Assessment of a Regenerative Therapy Strategy for Chondral Defects in Articular Cartilage

contributor:
Amsden, Brian
Flynn, Lauren E.
Chemical Engineering

subject:
Injectable hydrogels
Cartilage repair
In situ gelling

abstract: Thesis (Master, Chemical Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2015-09-17 08:56:49.63

abstract:
Osteoarthritis is one of the leading causes of disability in adults over the age of 40 years, and there is currently no curative measure for the disease. As a result, there is a critical need for a strategy that can promote cartilage regeneration. Of particular interest is an injectable, in situ gelling hydrogel for cell encapsulation that can be delivered with low cytotoxicity to native chondrocytes and encapsulated cells. Adipose-derived stem cells are an attractive cell population for delivery because they secrete a wide array of soluble factors and they have the ability to differentiate down the chondrogenic lineage.
	Chemotaxis of passage 0 and passage 2 bovine chondrocytes toward bovine ASCs was measured using a modified Boyden chamber assay. Passage 0 chondrocyte migration was less than 3% of seeded cells for all conditions investigated with no significant differences between groups. Passage 2 chondrocytes exhibited significantly higher migration than P0 chondrocytes, but migration towards bASCs was actually lower than media controls. PDGF-BB and IGF-I promoted chemotaxis of passage 2 chondrocytes at 5 ng/mL and up to 100 ng/mL.
Acrylate-poly(trimethylene carbonate)-block-poly(ethylene glycol)-block- poly(trimethylene carbonate)-acrylate (A-PTMC-PEG-PTMC-A) tri-block copolymers were synthesized from 3.4 and 20 kg/mol PEG-diol initiators. Methacrylate chondroitin sulphate (MCS) modified with collagen integrin peptides RGD, GLOGEN, and GVOGEA was blended with A-PTMC-PEG-PTMC-A to form hydrogels for ASC encapsulation. Conjugation of peptides onto MCS resulted in higher ASC viability in A-PTMC-PEG-PTMC-A/MCS hydrogels as assessed by LIVE/DEAD stain. The 20k/MCS hydrogels exhibited higher equilibrium water content, ultimate strain, and toughness, but lower equilibrium moduli than MCS and 3.4k/MCS hydrogels. In addition, 3.4k/MCS hydrogels were tougher than MCS hydrogels but had a comparable equilibrium modulus.
The present work showed that ASCs do not encourage chemotaxis of bovine chondrocytes in 2-D culture. This finding provides early evidence that ASCs may be unsuitable for promoting chondrocyte migration in a cartilage defect model. The viability and mechanical measurements demonstrate that A-PTMC-PEG-PTMC-A/MCS hydrogels modified with integrin peptides can maintain ASC viability following encapsulation. However, further experiments are necessary to assess the suitability of peptide-modified A-PTMC-PEG-PTMC-A/MCS hydrogels as a viable cartilage regeneration strategy.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Promissory Obligation and its Structure of Justification

contributor:
Kumar, Rahul
Philosophy

subject:
moral philosophy
ethics

abstract: Thesis (Master, Philosophy) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-27 12:03:04.45

abstract:
In my view, the central disagreement in contemporary discussion of promissory obligation stems from two contrasting conceptions of the function of the obligation of promise keeping. Simply put, the disagreement is over whether to view promissory obligation as arising from the need to protect something of value or to view it as arising from the need to make attainable something of value. The main thesis for which I shall argue is that the Attainment View is problematic. To this end, I offer two lines of argument against the view, one negative and one positive. Negatively, I shall show that the perceived advantages of the Attainment View over the Protection View are more apparent than real. Positively, I shall argue that the Attainment View faces an irresolvable dilemma when it comes to a range of pertinent cases, cases that involve promises which are morally impermissible for the promisor to carry out.
My thesis is organized as follows. Chapter 2 introduces the Practice View and the Expectation View of promissory obligation, supported respectively by Hume and Rawls on the one hand and Scanlon on the other. The views are unified by their conception of promissory obligation as serving a protection function. In Chapter 3, I discuss three variants of the Normative Power View of promissory obligation, advocated separately by Raz, Shiffrin and Owens. Common to all three is the idea that promissory obligation serves an attainment function. In the fourth and final Chapter, I spell out in more detail the contrast between the Protection View and the Attainment View, and I raise two lines of the argument against the latter position.

abstract: M.A.


title: Perceptions of Family Medicine Residents on the Role of Clinical Uncertainty in Learning to Become Competent Family Physicians

contributor:
Klinger, Don A.
Education

subject:
Uncertainty
Decision Making
Family Medicine
Self Assessment
Qualitative
Interviews
Medical Education
Postgraduate Residency Training

abstract: Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-27 15:43:23.837

abstract:
As the first point of patient care, Family physicians are known to experience greater levels of uncertainty in decision-making. Little is known about how Family Medicine residents perceive and experience uncertainty in their dual roles as learners and healthcare providers. While there is research to suggest that uncertainty can be productive for learning medical practice, no study has examined the role of uncertainty in resident learning. The purpose of this study was to explore how Family Medicine residents view, experience, and manage uncertainty while learning through practice.
A qualitative design was used to explore residents’ emotions, thoughts, opinions, and attitudes regarding their lived experiences of uncertainty. Over a two-week period, nine Family Medicine residents from one academic institution participated in individual, semi-structured interviews. Following verbatim transcription and member checking of interview summaries, the data was thematically analyzed to identify patterns in participants’ views and experiences of uncertainty.
Results showed that uncertainty was a common and potentially uncomfortable experience for participating residents. Over time, the residents recalled their uncertainty subsiding and changing in character as they gained confidence and comfort with uncertainty in their decision-making. Despite viewing uncertainty as integral to lifelong professional learning, the residents in this study recalled censoring their expressions of uncertainty based on their perceptions of how they thought their patients and supervisors would react.
In conclusion, the findings of this study suggest a need for medical education culture to be more accepting of residents’ uncertainty. A culture of acceptance towards uncertainty, in which residents and supervisors could speak freely about their professional limitations, has the potential to enhance patient safety as well as the quality and scope of clinical teaching and learning. Teaching medical learners to reflect in practice, by noticing uncertainty and suspending judgment, may help develop their ability to recognize professional weaknesses, self-limit practice in areas of limited competence, identify what must be learned, and locate external resources to resolve gaps in competence.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: The Influence of Subjective and Objective Working Knowledge on Attitude Strength

contributor:
Fabrigar, Leandre R.
Psychology

subject:
Attitude Strength
Message Elaboration
Working Knowledge

abstract: Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-27 16:33:53.965

abstract: Many researchers have typically treated subjective and objective measures of working knowledge as alternative operationalizations of working knowledge. Some researchers have argued that these measures should not treated interchangeably and that one measure is better than the other. However, See, Petty, and Fabrigar (2014) have recently proposed a dual-construct perspective, where they argued that subjective and objective measures of attitudinal properties, including working knowledge, reflect distinct but equally important processes that influence attitude strength. If these two measures reflect different processes, then they should have unique effects related to attitudinal consequences (e.g., message elaboration). Following this logic, we hypothesized that these two measures of working knowledge are not alternative operationalizations of the same construct and that both types of working knowledge have unique effects associated with message elaboration. We conducted two experiments to test these two hypotheses, where we measured participants’ subjective knowledge, objective knowledge, and initial attitudes towards an attitude object and presented participants with a persuasive message about the object. In the first study, we used an anti-nuclear power message as the persuasive message. In the second study, we used a pro-legalization of marijuana message as the persuasive message. Subsequently, we used argument quality effects on post-message attitudes to gauge message elaboration. In both studies, the correlations between subjective and objective were modest, which suggested that subjective and objective measures of working knowledge were not redundant of each other. In addition, both types of knowledge produced significant effects associated with message elaboration, even when controlling for each other. Overall, the two studies supported the dual-construct perspective.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Four Secondary Teachers’ Perspectives on Enhancing the Inclusion of Exceptional Students

contributor:
Hutchinson, Nancy L.
Education

subject:
Secondary School
Inclusionary Practices
Inclusion
Exceptional Students
Special Education
Education

abstract: Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-27 17:15:06.864

abstract:
Recent reports suggest that the number of students receiving special education services in Ontario has risen from 14% to 23% in a ten-year span (People for Education, 2015). Thus, there is a growing need to study which teaching practices are being used with exceptional learners in regular classrooms and whether they are consistent with professional documents and research advising teachers on how to create the best inclusive learning environment (Kretlow, Cooke, & Wood, 2012; Swanson, 2001). In Ontario, Learning for All (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2013a), the professional document designed to advise secondary school teachers on inclusive teaching practices, is notably lacking in research conducted within secondary schools. This could be due to the lack of research on inclusive education being conducted in secondary schools.
The current study described in this thesis was designed as a starting point to fill in this gap. Specifically, this multiple perspective case study describes the cases of four diverse secondary school teachers in Ontario and how they facilitated the inclusion of exceptional students in regular classrooms. In talking to secondary teachers about inclusion, I hoped to gain an understanding of how teachers create an inclusionary space using the tools provided to them by the Ministry of Education, as well as those provided by their individual schools and school boards.
The findings of the study suggest that the four secondary teachers in this study facilitate inclusion of exceptional students in regular classrooms by considering how the students’ functional needs impact their learning of the curriculum; in fact, three of the four consider functional learning and assessment needs of all students, not just exceptional students, when planning and teaching their classes. This study provides useful information for Ministries of Education, school boards, and schools in tailoring professional development days and professional documents to guide teachers in including students with exceptionalities in secondary schools.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: Factors Associated With Worsening Menopause-Specific Health-Related Quality of Life and Treatment Discontinuation in a Breast Cancer Chemoprevention Trial

contributor:
Richardson, Harriet
Community Health and Epidemiology

subject:
Epidemiology
Chemoprevention
Health-Related Quality of Life
Breast Cancer

abstract: Thesis (Master, Community Health & Epidemiology) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-27 19:48:03.611

abstract:
Background: The Mammary Prevention.3 (MAP.3) randomized placebo-controlled trial evaluating exemestane for breast cancer prevention demonstrated a 65% relative reduction in invasive breast cancer incidence. Up to 50% of participants in both trial arms reported a clinically meaningful worsening in their menopause-specific health-related quality of life (HRQL). The incidence of both worsening HRQL and treatment discontinuation was highest within the first year post-randomization.
Objectives: The objectives of the two manuscripts comprising this thesis were to 1) identify factors associated with worsening menopause-specific HRQL, and, 2) evaluate the association between clinically meaningful worsening in menopause-specific HRQL and early discontinuation of study treatment.
Methods: The study sample was derived from the MAP.3 chemoprevention trial conducted by the NCIC Clinical Trials Group and consisted of 4,560 postmenopausal women at elevated risk for breast cancer. Menopause-specific HRQL was assessed prior to randomization, 6 months and annually thereafter using the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL). In Manuscript 1, Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to identify factors associated with a clinically meaningful worsening in domain-specific and overall menopause-specific HRQL. In Manuscript 2, multivariable log-binomial regression was used to assess the associations between a clinically meaningful worsening in menopause- specific HRQL, baseline participant characteristics and early treatment discontinuation.
Results: Manuscript 1: Risk factors of worsening in overall menopause-specific HRQL included younger age, diagnoses of depression or anxiety, increasing medication burden and assignment to exemestane. Manuscript 2: The risk of early discontinuation was 77% higher among those experiencing a worsening in their overall menopause-specific HRQL (RR=1.77 95% CI: 1.51-2.08). Those who were current or past
smokers, employed at baseline and were assigned to exemestane were also at increased risk for treatment discontinuation.
Conclusions: Both treatment assignment and individual characteristics contributed to the worsening HRQL experiences observed in MAP.3, which may help inform the dialogue between clinicians and patients considering chemoprevention. A negative change in menopause-specific HRQL is an important risk factor of discontinuing chemoprevention therapy. The identification of individual-level factors associated with aromatase inhibitor discontinuation may assist physicians in appropriately monitoring and counseling their patients.

abstract: I am in the process of submitting this work to a journal for publication and the journal will not accept work that has been previously published or is available elsewhere.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Curves of low genus on surfaces and applications to Diophantine problems

contributor:
Kani, Ernst
Mathematics and Statistics

subject:
Arithmetic geometry
Diophantine equations
Bombieri-Lang conjecture
Low genus curves

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Mathematics & Statistics) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-28 10:03:04.056

abstract:
We describe in detail a technique due to Vojta for finding the explicit set of curves of low genus on certain algebraic surfaces of general type, and refine some of its aspects. We then provide applications of this method to three Diophantine problems.

We prove under the Bombieri-Lang Conjecture that there are finitely many non-trivial sequences of integers of length 11 whose squares have constant second differences, and we prove unconditionally the analogous result for function fields of characteristic zero.

We prove under the Bombieri-Lang Conjecture that there are finitely many integer sequences of length 8 whose k-th powers have second differences equal to 2, we give an unconditional result for function fields of characteristic zero. Moreover, this gives new examples of surfaces having no curves of genus 0 or 1.

The third application is related to the surface parametrizing perfect cuboids. We give some new properties about their curves of genus 0 or 1 and we give new bounds for the degree of curves in this surface, in terms of their genus.

abstract: PhD


title: Turning Ears, Tuning Hearts: Musical Language in the Romantic Acoustic Soundscape

contributor:
King, Shelley
Pugh, David
English

subject:
Word and Music Studies
Lyric Poetry
Elocution
Musicology
Sound Studies
British Romanticism

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, English) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-28 10:32:25.971

abstract: This study re-imagines the relationship between music and poetry in the Long Romantic period. It centres on a selection of lyrics by male canonical poets before moving into an analysis of texts by women who were prolific in their own time, with the aim of establishing a contextual canon of musical responsiveness that is characterized by a form of musical declamation in poetry. Beginning with an exploration of the cultural intersections of words, music, texts, and songs, I present a British Romantic poetic soundscape in which acts of reading, speaking, and writing are animated as live speech and performed as music. I engage with a number of thematic elements that assist me in identifying, categorizing, and analyzing often overlooked references to music in the lyrics of Charlotte Smith, Joanna Baillie, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Percy Shelley, John Keats, Lord Byron, Felicia Hemans, Letitia Landon, and John Clare. Each chapter unfolds around a dominant metaphor that describes a different facet of the musical experience of poetry. As a testing ground for my approach, I apply the argument, that musical language is interwoven with Romantic culture, to two national song collections: Lord Byron’s and Isaac Nathan’s Hebrew Melodies (1815, 1816) and Felicia Hemans’s and John Parry’s Welsh Melodies (1822). The overarching message of this study is that we should read texts in ways that are sensitive to the dynamics between authors, readers, speakers, and performers who contributed to shaping the Romantic creative act. My approach is rooted in the theory of new formalism, which anchors itself in historical evidence while maintaining its focus on the text. The interdisciplinary terminology that I employ is drawn from literary studies, musicology, elocution, rhetoric, sound studies, and word and music studies. This study was motivated by a proliferation of musical references within Romantic lyric poems, and actively counters claims that these are superficial and supplementary rather than integral and essential to our understanding of the culture and ethos of the Romanticism.

abstract: My examining committee has recommended restricting the thesis because they feel it should be published as a monograph and will assist me in doing so. I agree with this recommendation.

abstract: PhD


title: An Analysis of Grow Your Own Programs to Attract Culturally Diverse Teachers

subject:
culturally diverse teachers
teacher recruitment and retention

abstract: Grow Your Own (GYO) programs are used in the USA at both community and school levels to foster a culturally diverse teacher force by introducing individuals to the teaching profession and supporting those who wish to pursue a teaching career. With a view to considering how recruitment of culturally diverse applicants to teacher education programs could occur in Canada, this study reviews relevant literature to identify critical features of such programs, including their flexible nature, their institutionalization, and the importance of establishing productive partnerships with other organizations. The concluding chapter reports six major insights into the effectiveness of American GYO programs and offers suggestions for developing similar programs in the Canadian context.


title: Calcium and Phosphate Disposition in Chronic Kidney Disease

contributor:
Adams, Michael A.
Holden, Rachel M.
Biomedical and Molecular Sciences

subject:
Phosphate
Vascular Calcification
Chronic Kidney Disease
Calcium

abstract: Thesis (Master, Biomedical & Molecular Sciences) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-28 11:30:15.353

abstract:
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Vascular calcification (VC) is the most prevalent form of cardiovascular disease in this population and the attributable cardiovascular mortality is 10-100 times greater than healthy individuals. Mineral imbalance is a hallmark of progressing CKD, which greatly increases the propensity for VC. Specifically, pathogenic VC has been consistently linked to altered phosphate metabolism in CKD patients. Despite the critical role of phosphate in cell biology, there are significant gaps in knowledge regarding the in vivo kinetics of circulating phosphate.

A modified adenine model of CKD was used to characterize the disposition of circulating phosphate and calcium from the circulation to tissues. Studies used radiolabeled phosphate and calcium infusions to demonstrate that acute, non-renal phosphate handling is impaired in CKD and is manifested as an amplified phosphate pulse following administration. This pulse, rather than hyperphosphatemia per se, generated an increased transfer of phosphate and calcium selectively into vascular tissues. The maladaptive nature of this mineral handling process reveals an important early mechanism in both the initiation and progression of vascular calcification in CKD.

This mechanism will potentially generate new therapeutic targets for reducing the impact of phosphate on vascular calcification outcomes in CKD. Although the management of circulating phosphate levels in CKD patients is clinically recognized to attenuate soft tissue calcification, the present findings indicate for the first time that targeting the oscillations in phosphate, rather than the circulating phosphate level per se, is likely to be more relevant approach for reducing the morbidity linked to the progression of vascular calcification.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Determining the Feasibility of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Paradigm and its Impact on Exercise Self-Efficacy Among Chronic Kidney Disease Patients: a Pilot Study

contributor:
Parsons, Trisha
Rehabilitation Science

subject:
Self-Efficacy
Recruitment
Cardiac Rehabilitation
Chronic Kidney Disease

abstract: Thesis (Master, Rehabilitation Science) -- Queen's University, 2015-09-02 18:25:59.134

abstract:
Background: Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are in the “highest risk” group for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and nephrology guidelines recommend referral to cardiac rehabilitation (CR) to prevent its development. However, there is limited evidence supporting this recommendation and as few as 10% of patients with CKD utilize this service. In the general population, CR has been shown to enhance cardiovascular (CV) health and exercise self-efficacy (SE). Among persons with CKD, evidence suggests that CR may be an effective tool to improve CV health; however, no studies regarding its impact on exercise SE have been conducted. Given the low utilization of this service among patients with CKD, it is necessary to determine accrual and retention rates to inform the potential for a larger systematic trial. The primary goals of our study were to: (a) determine recruitment and enrollment ratios of patients with CKD to CR; and (b) examine changes in exercise SE across their participation in a CR program.
Methods: A retrospective chart review was undertaken at the Nephrology Program at Kingston General Hospital. Charts were screened for demographic information and clinical descriptors. Eligible participants were offered enrollment in a 16-week CR program; where exercise SE, CVD risk factors, self-management behaviours, and physical function outcomes were measured.  Results: A total of 611 charts were reviewed. Of those eligible for inclusion, 7 individuals were recruited to the study (recruitment ratio = 4.6%); however, only 3 were retained for enrollment (enrollment ratio = 2.0%). The lack of physician endorsement and travel distance may have contributed to the low enrollment. Across the course of their participation in CR, exercise SE was observed to change by +12.8%, -5.3%, and +11.5% from baseline to discharge for each participant, respectively.
Conclusions: This is the first study to: (a) quantify the feasibility of recruiting and enrolling persons with CKD in CR and (b) describe monthly changes in exercise SE via a case series. Evidence supports the hypothesis that CR is a potentially powerful agent to improve exercise SE among patients with CKD; however, further work is needed to elucidate barriers and facilitators to CR enrollment, and the relationship between exercise SE and participation in this health service.  Methods: A retrospective chart review was undertaken at the Nephrology Program at Kingston General Hospital. Charts were screened for demographic information and clinical descriptors. Eligible participants were offered enrollment in a 16-week CR program; where exercise SE, CVD risk factors, self-management behaviours, and physical function outcomes were measured. Results: A total of 611 charts were reviewed. Of those eligible for inclusion, 7 individuals were recruited to the study (recruitment ratio = 4.6%); however, only 3 were retained for enrollment (enrollment ratio = 2.0%). The lack of physician endorsement and travel distance may have contributed to the low enrollment. Across the course of their participation in CR, exercise SE was observed to change by +12.8%, -5.3%, and +11.5% from baseline to discharge for each participant, respectively.
Conclusions: This is the first study to: (a) quantify the feasibility of recruiting and enrolling persons with CKD in CR and (b) describe monthly changes in exercise SE via a case series. Evidence supports the hypothesis that CR is a potentially powerful agent to improve exercise SE among patients with CKD; however, further work is needed to elucidate barriers and facilitators to CR enrollment, and the relationship between exercise SE and participation in this health service.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Delivery of oseltamivir phosphate and gemcibatine from implantable poly (D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) cylinders for the treatment of pancreatic cancer

contributor:
Neufeld, Ronald J.
Szewczuk, Myron R.
Chemical Engineering

subject:
Drug delivery
Pancreatic cancer
Poly (D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid)
Sustained release

abstract: Thesis (Master, Chemical Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-28 14:17:15.912

abstract:
The aim of the study was to develop implantable poly (D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) cylinders capable of releasing oseltamivir phosphate (OP) and gemcitabine (GEM) over 30 days and to establish proof of principle for the sustained delivery of OP and GEM for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.
Resistance to the current standard of care, GEM, is common in pancreatic cancer. Recent studies have indicated mammalian neuraminidase 1 (Neu1) as a potential therapeutic target due to its role in receptor tyrosine kinase activation. OP inhibits Neu1 and has shown promise as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. In vitro experiments have indicated combined treatment with OP and GEM may be more effective than either drug alone.
Localized treatment with OP and GEM will allow a higher drug concentration at the tumor site while reducing systemic toxicity. OP and GEM were encapsulated in implantable PLGA single layered and double layered cylinders, which were capable of releasing OP and GEM over 30 days. Single layered cylinders were approximately 9 mm in length and 4 mm in diameter, while double layered cylinders were 10 mm by 5 mm. Double layered cylinders containing OP and GEM in distinct layers, termed OPin/GEMout and GEMin/OPout, displayed the most linear release of OP and GEM and were selected for cell viability testing. OP and GEM released from OPin/GEMout and GEMin/OPout cylinders effectively reduced cell viability of pancreatic cancer cell line PANC1 and GEM-resistant PANC1 (PANC1 GEMR) in experiments lasting 3, 6, 10, and 15 days. PLGA had no effect on cell viability. Future work should include in vivo studies with OPin/GEMout and GEMin/OPout cylinders in a murine model of pancreatic cancer.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Structural Basis of Antifreeze Proteins Binding to Ice

contributor:
Davies, Peter L.
Biomedical and Molecular Sciences

subject:
Ice-Binding Mechanism
Antifreeze Protein

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Biomedical & Molecular Sciences) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-28 16:25:11.216

abstract:
Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are a class of proteins that adsorb to the surface of ice crystals to prevent their growth. Recent structural work has shown that the ice-binding site (IBS) of a bacterial AFP organizes surface waters into an ice-like clathrate arrangement that matches and fuses to the quasi-liquid layer on the ice surface. On cooling, these waters join the ice lattice and freeze the AFP to its ligand. Evidence for the generality of this ice-binding mechanism, which is termed as anchored clathrate water (ACW) mechanism, is limited because AFPs tend to crystallize with their IBS as a preferred protein-protein contact surface, which displaces some bound waters.
	My thesis applies two strategies to test the universality of the ACW mechanism. First, I determine the crystal structure of a fish AFP called Maxi. This AFP is an elongated molecule, which crystallized such that almost half of its IBS was free from crystal packing influences. Waters on the solvent-exposed IBS are ice-like and can bind to the target ice planes, supporting the ACW mechanism. Second, in the crystal structure of type III AFP alone, one region of the IBS was completely engaged in crystal packing. We force that region to expose to solvent by crystallizing a fusion of type III AFP to maltose-binding protein. By combining the crystallographic data with MD simulations, the waters on the IBS were revealed and were shown to support the ACW mechanism.
	Studies showed that AFPs also can inhibit gas hydrate formation and growth. However, the mechanism for this process is not known. The crystal structure of Maxi revealed a novel protein fold, which retains ~400 ice-like waters in its core. Surprisingly, the internal water network of Maxi, which extends to the protein’s outer surface, is remarkably similar to the {100} planes of structure type II (sII) gas hydrate. The crystal structure of this water web has facilitated the construction of in silico models for Maxi and type I AFP binding to sII hydrates. The model suggests that AFPs adsorb to the gas hydrate lattice through the same anchored clathrate water (ACW) mechanism used to bind ice.

abstract: PhD


title: The Multiple Lives of Clothes: Alteration and Reuse of Women’s Eighteenth-Century Apparel in England

contributor:
Helland, Janice
Art History

subject:
Material Culture
Women
Social History
Dress History
Craft
Clothing Alteration
England
Clothing Reuse
Eighteenth-Century

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Art History) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-28 23:05:16.252

abstract:
Employing a practical material culture approach, the primary aim of this thesis is to address the diverse alterations that women’s eighteenth-century apparel underwent in both form and context.  Evidence collected through extensive direct examination of several hundred clothing objects held in museum collections across England including the Museum of London, the Gallery of Costume at Platt Hall in Manchester, the Wade Costume Collection house at Berrington Hall and the Fashion Museum at Bath is combined with archival research of household accounts, wills, trial records, letters, and journals at numerous libraries and archives around the country to develop a foundational narrative of the reuse and recycling of English women’s eighteenth-century dress.
The theoretical concept that objects possess social biographies is applied here to form the suppositional basis that these clothes experienced multiple lives and incarnations. To this end five main themes are explored beginning from shortly after the point of first acquisition. The thesis begins with day-to-day care and maintenance of clothing, tracking how garments transition from new to worn and methods employed to prolong their usefulness. Next, resizing requirements are detailed first for lifecycle events such as pregnancy, then as a consequence of new ownership. Following on this, various modes of the incessant redistribution of used and old clothing is examined in depth involving the second-hand market, bequests in wills, and the perquisite system whereby clothing was cast-off by employer to servant. Stylistic alterations for changing fashions are then identified and mapped to reveal women’s real-life practices and attitudes towards fashionability intersected with thrift. Finally, post-eighteenth-century reconceptualization as fancy dress costumes and historical museum artefacts are introduced as representing further chapters in the lives of garments rather than the end of the story. This thesis contributes to a burgeoning scholarship on post-acquisition consumption of dress and material culture, its use, reuse, and recycling; and seeks to complicate women’s engagement with the fashion system and assumptions around novelty and escalating consumer culture, their relationships with clothing over time, and with each other.

abstract: I intend to pursue commercial publication of my work.

abstract: PhD


title: Vitrified Clay Pipe Joint Behaviour Under Differential Ground Movement

contributor:
Moore, Ian D.
Civil Engineering

subject:
Pipes
Joint
Behaviour
Clay
Vitrified
Differential Ground Movement

abstract: Thesis (Master, Civil Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-29 16:32:10.701

abstract:
Field-scale experiments were used to investigate the behaviour of pipe joints connecting four segments of vitrified clay pipe subjected to differential ground movement. Firstly, linear potentiometers, inclinometers and strain gauges were installed to monitor joint rotations, joint axial compression or extension, and pipe strain. An articulation test using a servo-controlled hydraulic actuator was then employed to assess the instrumentation functionality and accuracy. The second stage of the project involved design and construction of a field-scale test chamber to simulate a normal ground fault. This facility employs manually operated screw jacks to displace a moveable floor. A test using olivine sand was conducted with floor displaced downwards by 122 mm, and this demonstrated that the new test chamber simulates normal ground faulting safely and within the design requirements. Thirdly, two tests were conducted where the pipe assembly was buried at different depths in the olivine sand and subjected to differential ground motion resulting from 30 mm of vertical floor displacement. Analysis of the experimental results included examinations of how joint rotations, joint axial compression or extension, and pipe strains increased with floor (i.e. fault) displacement, how burial depth influenced the observed behaviour, and how measured joint responses compared to two simple geometrical models.
The relationship between joint rotation and vertical floor (i.e. fault) displacement was almost linear, and close to a simple trigonometric relationship developed in an earlier project. Joint axial compressions/extensions were non-linear functions of vertical floor (fault) displacement. This included a transitional event, where after the joint experienced a small amount of axial compression or extension that axial response reversed direction and much larger (i.e. dominant) extension or compression developed. Pipe burial depth had little effect on joint rotations, but a substantial effect on joint compressions or extensions. While total net axial extension was similar to that predicted using a simple geometric relationship, the values at individual joints were substantially higher. Maximum bending strains of 114 and 300 microstrain were measured along the pipe segments at 0.6m and 1.2m burial depth, respectively. The larger value is about 1/3 of the tensile strain capacity of vitrified clay.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Kinetics and Modeling of Free Radical Aqueous Phase Polymerization of Acrylamide with Acrylic Acid at Varying Degrees of Ionization

contributor:
Hutchinson, Robin A.
Chemical Engineering

subject:
Modeling
Copolymerization
Acrylic Acid
Acrylamide
Free Radical Polymerization
Reactivity Ratios
Kinetics

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Chemical Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-30 13:31:36.508

abstract:
Water soluble polymers find applications in both consumer (e.g. superabsorbers in diapers, antiscalants in laundry detergent, and thickeners in shampoo) and industrial applications (e.g. antiscalants, antiflocculants and viscosity modulators in water treatment and oil drilling). Despite their industrial importance, the understanding of their kinetics have lagged behind their organic counterparts due to interaction of the monomer and polymer with the solvent, affecting the kinetics, and complicating experimental analysis such as molecular mass measurements. Additionally, the high viscosity of these systems at low monomer concentration (~5 wt%) make it difficult to take samples during polymerization reactions. Improved and specialized experimental techniques allow for the study and better understanding of these complex systems.
The work presented in this thesis focuses on the copolymerization of acrylic acid with acrylamide as a function of monomer concentration, monomer composition, temperature, and the degree of ionization of acrylic acid. Experimental monomer conversions and compositions were collected using an in-situ NMR technique developed and verified as part of this project. The in-situ NMR technique allowed for reliable data collection at monomer concentrations up to 40 wt%, covering a broader range of conditions than in previous literature, with reactivity ratios mapped over the complete range of monomer concentration and degree of ionization.
Successful modeling of the acrylamide homopolymerization included the backbiting mechanism using rate coefficients measured by our collaborators on this project and allowed for a comprehensive model valid for a range of temperatures and monomer concentrations for our and literature conversion profiles. Models of the acrylic acid and acrylamide copolymerization at non- and fully ionized conditions were also developed. However, insufficient knowledge of rate coefficients highlighted some gaps in our understanding of this copolymerization.

abstract: The work presented in this thesis was funded by BASF, a chemical company. For the time being, they wish us not to share the work presented in the thesis.

abstract: PhD


title: An evaluation of patients with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with an accelerometer and the step-up-and-over test

contributor:
Costigan, Patrick
Kinesiology and Health Studies

subject: Rehabilitation

subject: Knee function

subject: Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

subject: Accelerometer

subject: Step-up-and-over test

abstract: Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-31 09:56:03.906

abstract:
Evaluating patient knee function after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) can be difficult. With current evaluation methods, some patients are unable to return to their previous level of physical activity and if they do, they have a high risk of re-injury. One reason for these poor outcomes could be a lack of evaluation options in the clinic. Clinical evaluations require inexpensive and objective tests that have low physical demand. One objective and low demand test is the step-up-and-over (SUAO). Presently, the test uses a force plate, an expensive device. Replacing the force plate with an accelerometer could make the SUAO test an inexpensive evaluation tool of ACLR patients. Therefore, this thesis had three objectives. First, to discover if an accelerometer is a valid alternative to a force plate for the SUAO test. Second, to determine if the accelerometer-modified SUAO test is performed differently by ACL-intact individual and ACLR patients. Third and final, to determine if a relationship exists between SUAO test performance and subjective knee function.
	Two studies were completed for this thesis. In the first study, 17 ACL-intact individuals completed the SUAO test while being measured with a force plate and an accelerometer. In the second study, 26 ACL-intact individuals and 25 ACLR patients completed questionnaires on subjective knee function and fear of re-injury, then were measured with an accelerometer during the SUAO test.
	Results showed that the force plate and accelerometer measures were strongly correlated. Results also showed that the SUAO test, was performed differently by ACL-intact individuals and ACLR patients, and that the test performance was correlated to subjective knee function. Together, these results demonstrate that the SUAO test, with an accelerometer, is a clinically viable option on which normal and abnormal knees perform differently, and that the performance is related to the person’s opinion of their knee’s function.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Investigating the role of PDE4D7 in vascular smooth muscle cell migration

contributor:
Maurice, Donald H.
Pathology and Molecular Medicine

subject:
phosphodiesterase
PDE4D7
smooth muscle cell migration
RhoA ROCK

abstract: Thesis (Master, Pathology & Molecular Medicine) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-31 15:48:09.949

abstract: Inhibiting the maladaptive migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in injured blood vessels can help to reduce the development of intimal lesions in vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis and restenosis. Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) is involved in the regulation of VSMC migration and can be targeted in these diseases to reduce their impact. cAMP signaling is ubiquitous and dynamic, and requires control through signaling termination mechanisms. Phosphodiesterase (PDE) enzymes catalyze the hydrolysis of cAMP and are critical in the control of cAMP signaling. The spatial restriction of these enzymes in cells allows for the generation of distinct cAMP-mediated responses. The PDE4D gene family plays a dominant role in cAMP hydrolysis in migratory human VSMCs. Considerable interest exists in the idea that the unique N-terminal domains of PDE4D isoforms promote their spatial restriction in cells through selective interactions with other proteins, and that this localization allows individual isoforms to regulate discrete cellular functions. This study extends on previous work that examined the targeting of individual PDE4D isoforms in human arterial SMCs (HASMCs) through the overexpression of GFP constructs containing the unique N-terminal domains of the PDE4D isoforms (NT-PDE4D/GFP). The overexpression of NT-PDE4D7/GFP was observed to affect the morphology of migrating cells. In this study, using these N-terminal constructs and an RNAi-based strategy, we establish that PDE4D7 is involved in controlling rear retraction in migrating HASMCs. We show that altering PDE4D7 targeting and expression in these cells affects rear retraction largely through its ability to impact RhoA-ROCK signaling. We also report that PDE4D7 interacts with AKAP5, PKA and EPAC in HASMCs. Our results suggest a functional role for localized PDE4D7 activity in regulating cAMP-mediated rear retraction in migrating HASMCs, and identify PDE4D7 as a potential therapeutic target in controlling VSMC migration.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Thermochronological Evolution of Retrogressed Caledonian Eclogites, Lofoten Islands, Norway

contributor: Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering

subject:
Eclogites
Retrogression
Geochronology
Thermochronology
Ar-Diffusion Modelling
Temperature-Time Paths
Duration of Thermal Events
Short-Lived Events
Lofoten Islands
Norway

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Geological Sciences & Geological Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-31 13:15:20.122

abstract:
The major challenge in understanding the history in high-pressure continental terranes is dating the timing and duration of fluid infiltration and circulation events related to eclogitization and exhumation. Through a combination of high-resolution 40Ar/39Ar and Rb/Sr dating, coupled with detailed petrological and geochemical studies and numerical Ar-diffusion modelling, the thermal history of the Lofoten Islands – a continental terrane in northern Norway transected by Caledonian (c. 480 Ma) eclogite-facies shear zones formed at P ≈ 15 kbar and T ≈ 680°C – was studied to elucidate its associated fluid infiltration and melt injection histories.
	Six shear zones were studied from two islands – Vestvågøy and Flakstadøy. 40Ar/39Ar results in eclogitic garnet indicate that the fluids involved in the eclogitization at T ≈ 650–600°C (newly estimated temperatures) were 40Ar-rich. 40Ar/39Ar results and numerical models reveal that isothermal retrogression to amphibolite facies occurred at 425 Ma, lasting an integrated time of ≤ 1 Ma, during which the zones served as pathways for 40Ar-rich hot fluids that migrated through conduits reaching the overlying allochthon of Vestvågøy. The models indicate that the retrogressed eclogites and allochthon were exhumed soon after the eclogitization to shallower crustal levels (depth ≈ 8 km) where the ambient T did not exceed 300°C. These rock units remained at these levels for 90 Ma and 60 Ma, respectively, and experienced episodic injection of hot fluids associated with extensional events and local melt intrusions. 40Ar-poor fluids at 415 Ma infiltrated the zones at T ≈ 500°C for c. 100 ka in the Flakstadøy basement and at T ≈ 650°C for c. 400 ka in the allochthon of Vestvågøy. 40Ar-rich fluids at c. 365 Ma infiltrated the zones in Vestvågøy reaching the allochthonous at T ≈ 600°C for c. 150 ka. In a zone of Flakstadøy, a melt intrusion at 335 Ma reheated the rocks at T ≈ 500°C for c. 25 ka.
	Short-lived thermal events such as melt intrusions (390 Ma and 320 Ma) and fluid infiltration (280 Ma, 200 Ma, 180 Ma and 55 Ma), continued in different shear zones of Flakstadøy associated with Pangaea breakup and seafloor spreading.

abstract: PhD


title: Tracing Flows of Water, Energy, and Waste Through an Idealized Water Distribution Network Using an Urban Metabolism Based Approach

contributor:
Filion, Yves R.
Civil Engineering

subject:
Water Distribution
Energy
Greenhouse Gas
Numerical Model
Design Tool
Urban Metabolism

abstract: Thesis (Master, Civil Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-31 11:58:33.936

abstract: ‘Urban Metabolism’ (UM) is a well-established concept based on the parallels between the metabolisms’ of ecosystems and cities. These parallels consist of the intake, storage, and transformation of materials and energy, and the creation and output of wastes. These traits, which suggest cities possess a metabolism similar to ecosystems, also exist within water distribution systems (WDSs). Four common areas of UM assessments include: the evaluation of environmental sustainability indicators; greenhouse gas accounting; numerical models for the assessment of metabolic flows; and design and decision support tools. These applications show promising opportunities if applied to WDSs, and therefore a novel framework based on UM was developed specifically for the assessment of WDSs. This framework was tested on a water distribution network via three experiments. Experiment 1 utilized factorial design to systematically assess predominate network parameters (water demand, static lift, and pipe roughness). Experiments 2 and 3 studied the effects of two network management strategies (water conservation and pipe replacement scheduling) as well as the effects of static lift and pipe roughness in the presence of these strategies. The results were reported in terms of four metabolic flows: water, operational energy (O/E), embodied energy (E/E), and greenhouse gases (GHGs). Experiment 1 showed that individual increases in water demand, pipe roughness, or static lift, all led to decreases in network pressures and reductions in leakage volume. Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrated increases to leakage volumes and decreases in per capita GHG emissions in the presence of water conservation measures, and decreases in leakage volumes and increases in O/E transmission efficiency in the presence of pipe replacement programs. Experiments 2 and 3 also demonstrated a reduction in network pressures, and a resulting reduction in leakage volumes, due to additional static lift and pipe roughness. Recommendations for future work were made in four specific areas: (1) the expansion of pre-established metabolic flows, (2) the further study of the effects of pressure management under the scenarios studied, (3) the consideration of other urban systems which may benefit from the application of an UM-based assessment, and (4) the assessment of non-hypothetical WDSs using the developed framework.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Villagisation for our Time: Neoliberal governmentality and the experiences of villagised Burundian returnees

contributor:
Mullings, Beverley
Geography

subject:
peace
repatriation
governmentality
social reproduction
refugees
post-conflict
villagisation
Burundi
citizenship
neoliberalism

abstract: Thesis (Master, Geography) -- Queen's University, 2015-09-02 09:17:58.343

abstract: Since 1972, genocidal violence and conflict in Burundi has generated over nearly one million refugees. With the signing of peace accords in 2000, and shifts in asylum policies, an unprecedented number of former refugees had returned, prior to increased political violence in 2015. The Burundian government and its humanitarian partners have constructed Villages Ruraux Intégrés (VRIs, or Rural Integrated Villages) to resettle those not able to reclaim their former land, or who are otherwise landless. Framed as a pragmatic solution for resettling landless returnees’ in a predominantly agrarian setting, it aims also for a transformation from a subsistence economy to a market economy, transforming residents from supposedly aid-dependent former refugees, to self-sufficient, peaceful citizens, responsible for their own wellbeing. This thesis highlights the challenges of regained citizenship for these displaced people in a neoliberalizing landscape of peace and reconstruction. The first manuscript examines the logic behind the creation of these villages, and how this logic took form in their actual construction. While past villagisations’ have been characterised as ‘authoritarian high modernist grand schemes’ and are thus different from today’s more subtle modes of governing populations, I argue that the two are not mutually exclusive. The VRI program draws on both modes of governance, constructing ordered landscapes and seeking to shape citizen conduct. In doing so, it exemplifies what many geographers have identified as a contradictory shift in neoliberalism towards a more interventionist shaping of society. The second manuscript examines the experiences of regained citizenship and resettlement among former Burundian refugees in newly created VRIs.  Here I aim to understand how living in these socio-spatially ordered landscapes has affected returnees’ experiences of citizenship and belonging. I argue that VRIs are problematic as a post-conflict reconstruction spatial strategy because they rely upon contradictory forms of neoliberal governance that require residents to behave both as passive, compliant, apolitical humanitarian aid recipients when rare aid is delivered, and as enterprising and self-sufficient neoliberal subjects in environments that offer limited livelihood opportunities. Addressing the challenges of return requires attention to the processes shaping their experiences, beyond the common-sense scales of the village and the state.

abstract: I am planning to submit both manuscripts (Chapters 3 & 4) to journals for publication this year. Some journals require that the material not be published elsewhere at the time of submission.

abstract: M.A.


title: Investigation of the Potential of Low Cost Position Tracking Using Permanent Magnets

contributor:
Fichtinger, Gabor
Hashtrudi-Zaad, Keyvan
Electrical and Computer Engineering

subject:
Localization
Position Tracking
Magnetics

abstract: Thesis (Master, Electrical & Computer Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-31 15:09:48.415

abstract: Purpose: In computer assisted surgery accurate navigation tools are a necessity in many applications.  The current most widely used navigation systems are expensive compared to the cheaptest imaging modalities such as ultrasound.  Permanent magnet based tracking systems potentially offer adequate tracking accuracy and workspace size for limited clinical adoption.  This thesis investigates the development of such a tracking system, in order to facilitate future work in developing this technology.  Methods: Tracking the position of a permanent magnet involves finding a solution to a field model which matches the measured field to a position around the magnet.  The work here first compared common magnetic field models to one another, and to measured magnetic field data to determine their suitability in tracking systems.  A repeatable experimental data collection method is presented along with a method of calibration to reduce systematic error.  A simulator was also written in MATLAB which simulated the experimental setup allowing systematic and random errors to me controlled.  Results: Two simple magnetic field models were compared and found to have nearly identical fields.  A more complex model was compared and had measureable different field magnitudes to the dipole and monopole models (on the order of 10% difference), but was unusable in the tracking algorithm due to limitations of the non-linear optimizer and not investigated further.  Simulated results showed a high sensitivity to most errors sources, particularly the orientation error in the data collection setup and in the sensors minimum resolution of measurable magnetic field.  Tracking accuracy on experimentally collected data in 3-DOF after calibration was less than desired, with position error exceeding 5 mm at distances as low as 10 cm between sensor and magnet.  Conclusion: Permanent magnet tracking was found to be less accurate than is clinically useful, and highly sensitive to errors in sensors and experimental setup.  The range of the system was found to be particularly limited by the sensor measurement resolution.  This work provides solutions to some common error sources and could be used as a starting point for future investigations into permanent magnet tracking systems.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: A Crystal Plasticity Model of Fatigue of Dissimilar Magnesium Alloy Bi-Crystals

contributor:
Diak, Bradley J.
Daymond, Mark R.
Mechanical and Materials Engineering

subject:
Fatigue
Magnesium Alloys
Bi-Crystal
Crystal Plasticity Model

abstract: Thesis (Master, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-31 15:35:21.416

abstract:
A crystal plasticity finite element (CPFE) model was applied to the fatigue deformation of dissimilar Mg alloy bi-crystals. The mesoscopic stress-strain and microscopic slip and twinning behaviour of the model were first validated with experimental tension and compression data of pure Mg single crystals. High-cycle fatigue (HCF) simulations up to 1000 cycles were then used to systematically examine the effect of different textures on the cyclic deformation behavior of Mg AZ31-AZ80 bi-crystals at room-temperature. Fatigue behaviour was characterized in terms of the mesoscopic average stress-strain response and the evolution of the microscopic deformation (slip/twin activity). The model captures load asymmetry, cyclic hardening/softening and ratcheting. However, the model did not capture stress concentrations at the grain boundary (GB) for the grain shapes considered.
Either basal slip or tensile twinning was activated for any given orientation. When the soft AZ31 grain is oriented for basal slip almost all the shear strain is contained in that grain and has approximately ten times more accumulated shear strain than the other orientations. The results reveal there is a strong effect from orientation combinations on the cyclic deformation wherein a “hard” orientation shields a “soft” orientation from strain. When the AZ80 grain is oriented for basal slip and the AZ31 grain is oriented for tensile twinning the bi-crystal is soft, but only in one direction since twinning is a polar mechanism. Approximately half as much accumulated shear strain occurs when both grains are oriented for twinning. The slip and twinning systems quickly harden in AZ31 in the first few hundred cycles and the shear strain amplitudes quickly devolve from values between 10-6 – 10-4 to around 10-7; values which would be difficult to resolve experimentally.
The results were then extended to the possible effects on the fatigue behaviour of an AZ31-AZ80 dissimilar weld idealized as an AZ31-AZ80 bi-crystal. It is predicted that the worst fatigue behaviour would occur when one grain is oriented for basal slip: AZ31 grain, results in strain localization; AZ80 grain, results in an increase in twin boundaries and irreversible deformation in an AZ31 grain.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Relationship between abnormal maternal inflammation and insulin resistance during pregnancy

contributor:
Graham, Charles H.
Anatomy and Cell Biology

subject:
Anatomy and Cell Biology
Reproductive Immunology
Insulin Resistance

abstract: Thesis (Master, Anatomy & Cell Biology) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-31 23:06:43.415

abstract: Abnormal maternal inflammation during pregnancy is linked to complications such as preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction. There is growing evidence that insulin resistance is also associated with a heightened inflammatory state, and is linked to pregnancy complications such as gestational diabetes. This study tested the hypothesis that abnormal inflammation during pregnancy is causally linked to elevations in blood glucose and insulin resistance. To induce a state of abnormal systemic inflammation, bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was administered to pregnant rats on gestational days (GD) 13.5-16.5. Dams treated with LPS exhibited an abnormal immune response characterized by an elevation in white blood cells, which was linked to reduced fetal weight and increased glucose levels over pregnancy. Abnormal inflammation is characterized by increased levels of circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF) and interleukin-6, which contribute to insulin resistance by inhibiting the insulin signalling pathway. TNF in particular induces a serine phosphorylation (pSer307) of insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1). In our model, insulin resistance was assessed by measuring the extent of pSer307 of IRS-1 and total IRS-1 expression in skeletal muscle, as well as changes in metabolic parameters and pancreas tissue morphology associated with insulin resistance. LPS-treated dams exhibited a significant reduction in IRS-1 expression, elevation in fasting glucose levels, and reduction in insulin sensitivity indices. There were also biologically relevant increases in fasting plasma insulin levels and insulin resistance indices, but not pSer307 of IRS-1 and pancreatic islet size. To determine whether inflammation plays a role in reducing insulin signalling and the other changes associated with LPS administration, etanercept, a TNF antagonist, was administered on GDs 13.5 and 15.5 prior to LPS injections. With the exception of IRS-1 expression, in rats treated with etanercept all of the measured parameters remained at the levels observed in saline controls, indicating a link between abnormal inflammation and insulin resistance. The results of this study support the practice of monitoring the inflammatory conditions of the mother prior to and during pregnancy, and support further investigation into the potential use of anti-inflammatory agents during pregnancy in women at risk of insulin resistance and gestational diabetes.

abstract: This work has unpublished data.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: The United Nations and Sport for Development and Peace: A Critical History

contributor:
King, Samantha J.
Kinesiology and Health Studies

subject:
Sport for Development and Peace
Sociology of Sport
Sport and Development

abstract: Thesis (Ph.D, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2015-08-31 23:50:35.928

abstract: This dissertation offers a critical history of the Sport for Development and Peace paradigm by exploring the United Nations’ use of sport in the development context. It questions the dominant, ideal vision of Sport for Development and Peace in which sport is understood to offer an innovative and pragmatic approach to development and to act as a vehicle for the promotion of health, education, peace-building, economic growth, and infrastructural development. Within a framework of the “history of the present” and drawing upon a post-structural discourse analysis and archival research I trace the use of sport from colonial and imperial endeavours, through to post-World War II reconstruction, to the contemporary moment, so as to make visible the political and contested nature of implementing sport in the development context. Arguing that the Sport for Development and Peace paradigm is not a novel venture, that it extends a (neo)colonial governmental apparatus, and that it reinscribes neoliberal rationalities, I seek to explore how Sport for Development and Peace policies conceal and reproduce broader global power relations.

abstract: PhD