cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Ultrastructural characteristics of yolk in the chicken egg. Mechanisms for yolk absorption and its digestion by the yolk sac at different stages of embryonic development.
Creators: name: Allan-Wojtas, Paula.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1994
Subjects: subject: Biology, Anatomy.

description: An ultrastructural study using electron microscopy was undertaken of yolk and yolk sac to elucidate digestive mechanisms and to gather evidence to further substantiate the belief that intracellular digestion of yolk takes place in yolk sac epithelial cells during incubation. Initial work focused on the ultrastructure yolk in unincubated eggs using transmission electron microscopy of thin sections of yolk which had been fixed using conventional and novel fixatives. The next phase of the study involved the ultrastructural comparison of granules from sub-blastodermic fluid from 9 day old embryos, and extracellular yolk attached to the yolk sac of 15 day old embryos with the granules from yolk of unincubated eggs. The third phase of the study was the ultrastructural description of yolk sacs at 3 ages (3 days, 8 days and 15 days of incubation). A transport system for yolk lipid and its digestion products to the embryo was demonstrated ultrastructurally using the Imidazole-buffered Osmium Tetroxide protocol of Angermuller and Fahimi (1982) which enhanced lipid staining. We observed no ultrastructural changes in extracellular yolk granules and matrix particles at any age studied. Granules and matrix particles are taken up by endocytosis, and ultrastructural changes of yolk granules occur in epithelial cells, in acid phosphatase-containing vacuoles (which we have identified as secondary lysosomes), which are part of the functioning intracellular digestive system. We have ultrastructurally demonstrated the transport of lipids, which becomes more evident in 13 day old embryos. On the basis of the above evidence we conclude that yolk is digested in epithelial cells of the yolk sac, and the digestion products enter the blood sinuses and travel in the bloodstream to deliver nutrients to the developing embryo. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
title: Interpersonal Conflict Behaviour as a Mediator between Couples' Personalities and their Relationship Satisfaction: Application of the Actor-Partner Interdependence and Gender-Specific Models
Creators: name: Blumberg, Maxwell
Publisher: name: Goldsmiths, University of London
Year: 2006

description: Intimate couple relationships are central to human wellbeing and studies have demonstrated strong links between relationship distress and physical, mental, and social problems. Psychologists have therefore researched the determinants of relationship outcomes with a view to developing interventions for the amelioration of relationship distress. This research has suffered from a number of limitations. First, the majority of studies have focused on bivariate associations between relationship outcomes and causal factors. Little is therefore known about the effects of interactions between the well researched factors of personality and conflict behaviour on relationship outcomes. In particular, the extent to which conflict behaviour mediates the association between partners' personalities and their relationship satisfaction is unknown. Second, investigations have seldom accounted for the interdependence of observations typical of intimate couples. Third, the majority of studies investigating relationship outcomes of heterosexual couples have assumed that effects on relationship outcomes vary by gender without specifically testing this assumption. This dissertation examined the associations between Five Factor model personality traits, conflict behaviour, and the relationship satisfaction of 234 heterosexual couples drawn from an Internet-based sample of 1122 participants in intimate couple relationships. The following analyses were performed: conflict behaviour and relationship satisfaction; personality and relationship satisfaction; personality and conflict behaviour; and conflict behaviour as a mediator of the effects of personality on relationship satisfaction. Analyses were based on the Actor-Partner Interdependence and gender-specific models. The study found that the association between relationship satisfaction and conflict behaviour was larger than that between relationship satisfaction and personality. Furthermore, the effects of actor conflict behaviour were significantly stronger than those of partner conflict behaviour suggesting that an actor-oriented model of relationship outcomes better accounted for the results. The strongest personality correlate of relationship satisfaction was actor agreeableness while actor neuroticism was most strongly associated with conflict behaviour. The effects of personality on relationship satisfaction were almost completely mediated by conflict behaviour with the effects of neuroticism and agreeableness showing the greatest degree of mediation. Finally, minimal support for a gender-specific model was found.
L'insertion professionnelle à l'ère de la société de l'information: Le cas des diplômés universitaires dans le contexte Canadien
Creators: name: Carpentier, Renée
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2003
Subjects: subject: Canadian Studies.
subject: Sociology, Social Structure and Development.
subject: Education, Higher.

description: Cette thèse de maîtrise porte sur l'insertion professionnelle des diplômés universitaires canadiens de moins de trente ans. Elle prend la forme d'une étude comparative entre le contexte économique des années 1980 et celui des années 1990 au moyen des Enquêtes nationales auprès des diplômés (END) de 1982, 1986, 1990 et 1995. Il est question d'une recherche quantitative dont la problématique touche la sociologie de l'emploi, un champ des sciences sociales de plus en plus étudié depuis le commencement du déclin de l'État providence survenu au début des années 1980. Les années 1990 sont marquées par l'émergence de la société de l'information, un nouveau contexte socioéconomique ou le savoir scientifique occupe une place centrale dans les processus de production. D'après les chercheurs du domaine, les difficultés d'insertion professionnelle semblent plus fréquentés auprès des diplômes universitaires, mais par la même occasion, le savoir et la main-d'oeuvre hautement qualifiée constituent des axes centraux dans la nouvelle économie canadienne. Dans le cadre de ce travail, je suppose que la problematique de l'insertion professionnelle des diplomes universitaires ne se manifeste pas de facon uniforme pour toutes les categories professionnelles. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Transcriptional Coupling of Neighboring Operons in Bacteria
Creators: name: Tenenbaum, Debora
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2024
Subjects: RNA polymerase
Sigma factor
Single-molecule fluorescence microscopy
Transcriptional coupling
Gene Expression
Molecular Biology
Transcription

description: Despite their apparent simplicity, bacteria can do amazing things. They can move, reproduce themselves, send and respond to signals, and perform all the energetic transactions necessary for these tasks. Most of the functions that prokaryotic cells need to survive and proliferate require the coordinated activity of multiple genes. At the most basic level, this coordination is assisted by the organization of functionally related genes into operons. However, often additional control over gene expression exists, in which the activity of multiple operons is coordinated. Functionally-related operons tend to be spatially clustered in the bacterial genome. Moreover, there is evidence that proximally located operons show higher levels of co-expression than far away ones. However, the effect of genomic distance in the global regulation of transcription is still not completely understood. In this thesis, I propose a novel mechanism that could serve to transcriptionally couple neighboring genes. It is based on previous in vitro observations of the behavior of the E. coli RNA polymerase (RNAP) after it has completed transcription of a gene. I present a combination of analytical calculations, stochastic simulations, and single-molecule microscopy experiments used to test the proposed mechanism and characterize the distance and time over which it could couple expression of proximal genes.
description: Single-molecule microscopy experiments on bacterial transcription are generally performed using immobilized linear DNA templates. However, RNAP binds DNA ends with high affinity, which can result in non-physiological behavior. To avoid such artifacts in our single-molecule experiments, I designed and synthesized fluorescently labeled circular DNA templates for single-molecule fluorescence microscopy. In this thesis, I present the protocols developed for their synthesis. Additionally, I show that the proposed method produces transcriptionally active circular DNA templates that can be used to study the post-termination behavior of RNAP.
title: Empire's Foot
title: Cold War US Poetry & Imperialism in Latin America
titleType: Subtitle
Creators: name: Knowles, Dominick James
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2023
Subjects: Hemispheric Studies
Poetry and Imperialism
Poetry of the Americas
Radical Literature
US Empire
American Studies

description: My dissertation argues that poetry is an overlooked arena in which imperialism and democracy intersect. The contradiction between democratic rights at home and imperial aggression in Latin America has vexed US poetry since at least 1846, when Walt Whitman, poet laureate of American democracy, encouraged the military to invade Mexico after its failed attempt to annex Texas. More than a century later, at the beginning of the Cold War, this legacy persisted: during the postwar boom that marked the United States’ rise as a global superpower, poets who travelled to and wrote about Latin America struggled to reconcile their democratic ideals with the realities of conquest, land theft, and military intervention. These poets incorporated Latin American history, Indigenous philosophies, and Afro-Latinx cultures into their work, both to demonstrate hemispheric solidarity and to distance themselves from the cruelty of their empire. Against this distance, Empire’s Foot contends that poetry, much like a colonial border, is a dynamic record of the imperial project. My project reconsiders the works of canonical and marginal US poets (Charles Olson, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Amiri Baraka, Walter Lowenfels, and Carolyn Forché) for whom Latin America was alternately a revolutionary aspiration, a world-historic tragedy, or a haven of pre-capitalist Indigenous culture. Empire’s Foot interrogates their divergent responses to US empire, unsettling the conventional notion that expressions of hemispheric solidarity necessarily serve the struggle for political emancipation. Drawing from hemispheric studies, Global South Marxisms, and Black & Indigenous scholarship, my readings reveal that even when it speaks against empire, US poetry often maintains and transmits the neocolonial violence typical of Cold War politics.
Characterization of protein glycoforms in cellobiohydrolases and endoglucanases from Trichoderma reesei RUT-C30 and mutant strains using capillary isoelectric focusing and mass spectrometry.
Creators: name: Hui, Joseph P. M.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2000
Subjects: subject: Chemistry, Analytical.

description: Trichoderma reesei is a filamentous fungus heavily used in the biotechnology industry due to its efficient secretion of cellulases. The enzymatic system of T. reesei consists primarily of four glycoproteins referred to as cellobiohydrolases (CBH I, CBH II) and endoglucanases (EG I, EG II). They exhibit microheterogeneity both in the N- and O-linked glycans. This thesis focuses on the method development to characterize the glycosylation profile and post-translational modifications present in these glycoproteins. Crude cellulase fermentation extracts RUT-C30 and its two mutant strains Iogen-M4, Iogen-B13 were initially analyzed by capillary isoelectric focusing (CIEF) to determine the cellulase composition in them. The major cellulase CBH I was purified from each strain and electrospray mass spectrometry (ESMS) was used to reveal the extent of overall glycosylation. To characterize the N-linked glycans and their attachment sites, CBH I from these strains were subjected to tryptic digest with and without PNGase F incubations followed by mass spectrometric detection. The O-linked glycans were released chemically by hydrazinolysis and were analyzed by high performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD). The majority of O-linked glycans was di- and tri-saccharides. Two unusual posttranslational modification from strain RUT-C30 were observed: (1) both high mannose (predominantly Man 8GlcNAc2) and single GlcNAc in putative N-linked sites and (2) mannosylphosphorylation in a O-linked di-saccharide. Heterogeneity in putative N-linked sites was found consistently in CBH II, EG I and EG II from RUT-C30, however, no mannosylphosphorylation was observed at least on the proteins in the purified fractions. These results have led to the proposal of endogenous endoglycosidase H as well as mannosylphosphorylation activities possibly induced during fermentation.
Features of natural translation in a language testing environment.
Creators: name: Sherwood, Bianca.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2000
Subjects: subject: Language, Linguistics.

description: Natural translation (NT) environments reflect and shape participants' expectations and assumptions about translation activities. This study explores the features of NT environments with particular emphasis on a language testing environment. The data consists of samples of natural translations of a translation task which is a sub-test of a second language competence test for candidates seeking admission to a bilingual university program. In order to compare strategies, the same task was administered to student translators with two to three years professional training. The study also includes a translation of the test text by a fully qualified professional translator. The findings support the view that translating ability is a complex developmental cognitive competence. In performing the translation task, NT strategies tend to focus on a close linguistic matching of phrases. Student translators (STs), as is the case with the professional translator, appear to attend more systematically to a broader range of features including extra-linguistic factors. This attention to extra features may explain why most student translators were unable to complete the task in the allotted time. Nevertheless, the differences observed seem to be more a matter of degree than of type.
QoS support and performance analysis of the PetaWeb optical network
Creators: name: Huang, Aimin
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2003
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Electronics and Electrical.

description: With the dramatic increase of Internet users and the development of new high volume Internet applications, both the volume and dynamic behavior of the Internet traffic has changed. Services based on high-bandwidth multimedia applications will be the dominant sources of traffic in the future. In order to cope with the immense diversity of applications and traffic volume, highly dynamic optical networks will be needed. Recently, optical network technologies have dramatically advances due to several major developments such as Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM), innovative Optical Amplifiers (OA), and wavelength switch. These set the foundation for the Next Generation Optical Networks (NGON) and have profound impact on the design of NGON architectures and technologies. The research work in this thesis focuses on an alternative next generation optical network architecture, to be operated at multiple petabits per second speeds, called PetaWeb network. The PetaWeb simulation model is implemented, the network functionalities are verified and the network performance metrics involving tandem traffic, reconfiguration period, the number of channel and channel granularity, and the traffic variation are quantified. Furthermore, in order to provide Quality of Service (QoS) over the PetaWeb network, the QoS-Aware edge node and the QoS-Aware channel allocation algorithm are proposed. The performance of the QoS-Aware PetaWeb network is also evaluated and analyzed through simulations.
Une analyse de facteurs administratifs au moyen d'une étude comparative des perceptions de ces facteurs par quinze théoriciens de l'organisation et de l'administration scolaire
Creators: name: Poirier, Yves M
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1971
Subjects: subject: Education, Administration.
subject: Sociology, Organization Theory.

description: Abstract not available.
Pregnancy-Related Mortality Disparities During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Creators: name: Rowley, Diane L.
name: Anyanwu, Kelechukwu
name: Crosby, Alexander
name: Hutchins, Sonja
name: Phillips, Kiwita S.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2024

description: Objectives. To compare pregnancy-related mortality ratios (PRMRs) associated with COVID-19 by race/ethnicity, by region of residence, and in states with and without Medicaid expansion. Methods. We used 2020–2021 data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research in our analysis. We stratified PRMRs by race/ethnicity, census regions, and Medicaid expansion and nonexpansion states. Results. The 2020–2021 PRMR was 40.3 per 100 000 live births. American Indian/ Alaska Native pregnant people had the greatest PRMR, followed by non-Hispanic Blacks and non-Hispanic Native Hawaiians/other Pacific Islanders. PRMRs associated with COVID-19 in the southern region were at least 2 times higher than in other regions and were highest for all pregnant people in the various racial/ethnic groups. PRMRs associated with COVID-19 were lower in Medicaid expansion states than in nonexpansion states. Conclusions. The US COVID-19 epidemic exacerbated racial and ethnic disparities in pregnancy-related mortality. Public Health Implications. The alarming increase in disparities among racial and ethnic pregnant people during the COVID-19 pandemic underscores the need to address social determinants of health at the structural level.
Does Olympic status matter? An analysis of women's ice hockey in Canada between 1990 and 1997.
Creators: name: Tenebaum, Kirsten.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1999
Subjects: subject: History, Canadian.

description: This study aims to examine the changes in women's hockey in relation to the fact that it became an Olympic sport in 1992. More specifically, it focuses on participation rates within Canadian hockey, the situation of women's hockey in Canadian Universities, and the print media coverage of the 1990 and 1997 Women's World Hockey Championships. Minutes from the Canadian Hockey Association's Female Council annual and semi-annual general meetings, and the Canadian Hockey Association's Registration reports were used in order to describe participation rates in Canadian hockey before and after Olympic status. A questionnaire was created in order to describe the state of women's hockey in Canadian Universities. This questionnaire was sent to all of the Universities listed in the CIAU handbook. In addition, minutes from the 1996 CIAU board of directors meeting and the 1996 annual general meeting were used to provide information relating to the reasons that women's hockey was added to the CIAU Championship Program. The study included a print media analysis of the Ottawa Citizen and the Toronto Star coverage of the 1990 and 1997 Women's World Championships. Results of the study indicated that participation rates increased after Olympic status at the club level and in the University system. The media analysis of the Women's World Championships for both the Ottawa Citizen and the Toronto Star revealed that the quantity of articles did not change much after Olympic status, whereas the content of the articles improved in 1997. That is, the diversity of the content of the articles increased, in that, for example, player profiles were introduced in the 1997 coverage. However the results did not demonstrate any significant change in women's ice hockey in Canada since this sport pined Olympic status. Moreover, the results were not able to indicate whether there was a direct link between the above mentioned changes and the fact that women's hockey became an Olympic sport.
Oxidation and reduction processes: Investigation of new catalytic systems.
Creators: name: Aldea, Ioana Raluca.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1999
Subjects: subject: Chemistry, Organic.

description: This thesis describes a study of the hydrogenation of different functional groups in the presence of clays or metals anchored on clays as catalysts. The thesis also describes the selective aerobic oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides using a palladium based catalyst. Chapters 2 and 3 detail work on the hydrogenation processes. Ruthenium clays were prepared using montmorillonite-phosphine or montmorillonite-bipyridine and RuCl3·H2O. The clays obtained were found to be effective catalysts for the reduction of unsaturated esters, epoxides, sulfones and phosphonates. It was shown that Ru-phosphine clay is an efficient catalyst for reduction of the alpha-carbonyl group of alpha-ketoesters and alpha-ketoamides, and the alpha-imine group of alpha-iminoesters and alpha-iminoketones. The reductive amination of alpha-ketoesters with amines, catalyzed by ruthenium clay, was studied. The diastereoselectivity of the reactions was studied using chiral amines. Modification of the clay structure using organic ligands and/or metals was also investigated. The reduction of aliphatic and aromatic ketones by hydrogen transfer was studied. The reaction was catalyzed by sodium montmorillonite and took place under basic conditions (0.06 M KOH in isopropanol). The cis /trans selectivity of the process was also examined. The last chapter (Chapter 4) describes the selective oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides. The palladium complex [Pd(PBut2H)(mu-PBu t2)]2, on exposure to oxygen in tetrahydrofuran, generates an active catalytic system for this reaction. The presence of other functional groups (amide, carboxyl) does not interfere with the oxidation process at sulfur. It was shown that this process is stereospecific in the case of (+)-biotin-sulfoxide 4-nitrophenyl ester.
On Quasi-hereditary Structures
Creators: name: Flores Galicia, Manuel
Publisher: name: Universität Bielefeld
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: 510

description: #### Abstract

 A quasi-hereditary algebra is an Artin algebra *A* together with the choice of a partial order on the set of isoclasses of simple *A*-modules which satisfies certain conditions. We refer to this partial order as a quasi-hereditary structure on *A*.

 In this thesis we discuss two approaches to investigate all the possible choices that yield quasi-hereditary structures for a given Artin algebra.

 The first strategy is to study total orders inducing quasi-hereditary structures via the homological poset, which is a partial order on the set of simple modules reflecting homological properties. The second approach refines the notion of a quasi-hereditary structure considering an appropriate equivalence relation. In particular we exhibit combinatorial characterisations of the homological poset of Auslander algebras arising from truncated polynomial rings and for blocks of Schur algebras of finite representation type. For the case of path algebras of Dynkin type *An* we find a complete characterisation of all the equivalence classes of quasi-hereditary structures by means of binary trees and certain quiver decompositions.
Hepatitis A virus (HAV) in foods: Studies on rapid detection, survival and inactivation of the virus and its transfer.
Creators: name: Bidawid, Sabah P.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2000
Subjects: subject: Biology, Microbiology.

description: Various outbreaks of hepatitis A have been associated with the consumption of foods contaminated with hepatitis A virus (HAV). In this study, experiments were designed to develop rapid molecular methods to detect HAV in produce, to investigate its heat inactivation in dairy products and gamma irradiation resistance in produce, to assess its survival under modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and to determine the amount of virus transferred from human hands to foods. The results demonstrated the following: (1) Immunomagnetic beads-PCR (IM-PCR), positively-charged 1MDS filters (F), or a combination of both (F-IM-PCR) methods were used to capture, concentrate and rapidly detect HAV in experimentally-contaminated lettuce and strawberries. Although the detection limit (10 PFU) of the F-IM-PCR was slightly less sensitive than that by the IM-PCR (0.5 PFU), the F-IM-PCR method has the potential to be of a greater sensitivity when detecting the virus in larger analytical units of foods (>50 mL) than the IM-PCR which is restricted to ≤20 mL, volumes. (2) Studies on the thermal resistance of HAV in three types of dairy products containing increased amounts of fat content (skim milk, homogenized milk; 3.5% MI7G, and table cream; 18% MFG) indicated that increased fat content seems to protect HAV and render it more heat-resistant as compared to those of lesser fat content. A list of time and temperature combinations required to achieve a 1 to 5 log 10 reduction in HAV titre is presented. (3) Exposure of HAV to gamma irradiation (60Co) doses ranging between 1 and 10 kGy showed that DIO values of 2.73 and 2.97 kGy were needed to achieve a 1-log10 reduction in HAV inoculated onto lettuce and strawberries, respectively. (4) Various MAP environments did not influence HAV survival on lettuce stored at 4°C. At room temperature, however, an atmosphere consisting of 70% CO2: 30% N2 slightly (p = 0.06) enhanced virus survival as compared to other storage conditions. (5) Approximately 10% of HAV inoculated onto the fingerpads of human volunteers was transferred to lettuce by touching. Treatment of the fingerpads with water, topical agents, or alcohol significantly (p < 0.05) reduced virus transfer from 10% down to ≤0.64%.
Bicarbonate/chloride anion exchanger activity is cell cycle dependent during mouse oocyte meiotic maturation and egg activation.
Creators: name: Phillips, Karen P.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2001
Subjects: subject: Biology, Cell.

description: In the sea urchin, some other marine invertebrates, and the frog, Xenopus, egg activation at fertilization is accompanied by an increase in intracellular pH (pHi) resulting from activation of a pH i regulatory transporter. As pHi regulation had not been studied in a mammalian model, I investigated pHi regulation in the mouse egg during meiotic maturation and egg activation. Steady-state pH i was measured using the pHi sensitive fluorophore SNARF-1-AM in germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes, ovulated eggs, and zygotes. No sustained changes in pHi occurred after germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD), fertilization or during parthenogenetic egg activation. HCO3-/Cl- exchanger activity was measured in unfertilized eggs and zygotes. Zygotes exhibited a marked intracellular alkalinization and Cl- efflux upon external Cl- removal, which is indicative of active HCO3-/Cl- exchangers, in contrast to the very small response observed in eggs. Furthermore, while zygotes quickly recovered from an induced alkalosis, eggs exhibited only a slow, incomplete recovery. HCO3-/Cl - exchanger activity was upregulated following in vitro fertilization (IVF) becoming maximal after 79 h. Activation of HCO3- /Cl- exchanger activity appeared to occur by activation of existing, inactive exchangers upregulation of activity was unaffected by inhibition of protein synthesis or by disruption of the Golgi apparatus or the cytoskeleton. HCO3-/Cl- exchanger upregulation was also independent of PKC and cAMP-dependent pathways. Using cycloheximide-activated eggs, HCO3- /Cl- exchanger activation was independent of the repetitive Ca2+i transients. HCO3-/Cl- exchanger activity, measured during the cell cycle, was robust in GV eggs, becoming downregulated during meiotic maturation. Low HCO3- /Cl- exchanger activity was a feature of meiotic metaphase only, as activity was not downregulated during metaphase of the first cell cycle. HCO3-/Cl- exchanger upregulation was dependent on an intact metaphase II spindle and could be blocked by the phosphatase inhibitor okadaic acid following Sr 2+ activation. Finally, HCO3-/Cl - exchanger activity could be activated in unfertilized eggs by the MEK inhibitor U0126. This suggests that HCO3- /Cl- exchanger activity is upregulated at fertilization in the mouse by a cell cycle-dependent mechanism that may involve the MAPK pathway.
Disturbance and biodiversity.
Creators: name: Mackey, Robin L.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2001
Subjects: subject: Biology, Ecology.

description: General opinion in the contemporary literature is that disturbance strongly influences patterns of species diversity, and that diversity is greatest at intermediate levels of disturbance. However, empirical evidence is equivocal, and quantitative predictions about the strength of diversity-disturbance relationships are lacking. Using Markov models of dynamics of real communities, I derived predicted changes in diversity when communities are subjected to quantified disturbance gradients. I also derived predictions regarding effects of sampling intensity and species selectivity of disturbance on diversity-disturbance relationships. My models predict peaked relationships should be relatively rare, variation in diversity over disturbance gradients typically should be low, and relationship shape varies with sampling intensity. These results are broadly consistent with a review of published diversity-disturbance relationships. A meta-analysis of 197 published diversity-disturbance relationships was performed to determine how frequently observed relationships are peaked; how strong, in general, relationships are; and whether various attributes of a study influence the observed shape and strength of a relationship. Non-significant relationships were the most common, and peaked responses were reported in only 16% of cases. Variation in diversity explained by disturbance was variable, but averaged ∼50%. Results suggest that strong and/or peaked relationships may arise from procedural artifacts. I conclude that there is little evidence to support the belief that disturbance should have a consistently important role in determining patterns of diversity, or that diversity-disturbance relationships are typically peaked. Anthropogenic habitat loss is often cited as the most important cause of recent species' extinctions. Recent studies identifying hot spots of imperiled species have suggested that habitat loss is the primary factor threatening the survival of imperiled species. However, interpretation of such hot spots is not practical without knowledge of where imperiled species have been lost. I determined distributions of richness and losses of imperiled species in Canada, and statistically examined the relationship between species' losses and various landuse variables. Several hot spots of losses were identified in southern regions of Canada. The combination of frequent and intensive insecticide applications, routine herbicide use, and habitat loss due to agricultural development appears to be the most important threat to imperiled species.
SPE-21, a palmitoyltransferase that is necessary for spermiogenesis and fertility in Caenorhabditis Elegans
Creators: name: Tiruchendurai Suryanarayanan, Saai Anugraha
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2025

description: In most animals, meiosis results in the formation of spermatids that must further differentiate into fertilization-competent spermatozoa. This process is known as spermiogenesis or spermatid activation in Caenorhabditis elegans, and it results in the transformation of round, non-motile spermatids into amoeboid, motile spermatozoa. C. elegans spermatid activation is associated with the fusion of Golgi-derived membranous organelles (MOs) with the sperm plasma membrane. This fusion process places MO-derived proteins onto the cell surface and prepares the plasma membrane of spermatozoa for fertilization. In our current study, we have identified, cloned, and characterized the role of spe-21, also designated as dhhc-5, during hermaphrodite and male sperm activation. spe-21 null mutant worms are severely sub-fertile at all studied growth temperatures due to sperm-associated defects. spe-21 mutant spermatids fail to activate both in vivo and in vitro after treatment with known chemical activators. We have identified the function of spe-21 in MO fusion during spermiogenesis. The gene spe-21 encodes a predicted four-pass transmembrane protein with a conserved Asp-His-His-Cys tetrapeptide, cysteine-rich zinc finger motif (DHHC-CRD type zinc finger motif). Generally, proteins with DHHC-CRD motifs are residents of Golgi or Golgi-derived vesicle membranes and catalyze post-translational addition of palmitate to their protein substrates. Therefore, they are called palmitoyltransferases or palmitoylacyltransferases (PATs). We also found that SPE-21 localizes to the MOs of spermatids. Our findings suggest that SPE-21, a MO-localized palmitoyltransferase, is required for proper spermatid activation and the creation of fertilization-competent sperm. Our findings also highlight the importance of lipid-related functions in gametes and fertilization.
ReMixT: clone-specific genomic structure estimation in cancer
Creators: name: McPherson, Andrew W.
name: Roth, Andrew J. L.
name: Ha, Gavin
name: Chauve, Cedric
name: Steif, Adi
name: De Souza, Camila P.
name: Eirew, Peter
name: Bouchard-Côté, Alexandre
name: Aparicio, Samuel, 1963-
name: Sahinalp, S. Cenk
name: Shah, Sohrab P.
Publisher: name: BioMed Central
Year: 2017

description: Somatic evolution of malignant cells produces tumors composed of multiple clonal populations, distinguished in part by rearrangements and copy number changes affecting chromosomal segments. Whole genome sequencing mixes the signals of sampled populations, diluting the signals of clone-specific aberrations, and complicating estimation of clone-specific genotypes. We introduce ReMixT, a method to unmix tumor and contaminating normal signals and jointly predict mixture proportions, clone-specific segment copy number, and clone specificity of breakpoints. ReMixT is free, open-source software and is available at http://bitbucket.org/dranew/remixt .
Lola Lemire Tostevin: A minor perversion.
Creators: name: Press, Karen.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1996
Subjects: subject: Literature, Canadian (English).

description: My thesis examines the work of Ontario writer Lola Lemire Tostevin: five books of poetry, Color of Her Speech (1982), Gyno-Text (1983), Double Standards (1985), 'sophie (1988) and Cartouches (1995), and her first novel, Frog Moon (1994). Although she writes primarily in English, Tostevin's first language is French; I am primarily interested in how she makes use of this fact in both the form and the content of her writing. In examining this linguistic dynamic, I make some use of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari's Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature. In emphasizing her linguistic and sexual difference, Tostevin "perverts" the traditionalist, male-centred, English language in which she is a "minor" writer. Reacting to painful divisiveness with a "paradigm of multiplicity," she creates a new range of possibilities able to exist within one country, person, or text.
Benzylglucosinolate Derived Isothiocyanate from Tropaeolum majus Reduces Gluconeogenic Gene and Protein Expression in Human Cells
Creators: name: Guzman-Perez, Valentina
name: Bumke-Vogt, Christiane
name: Schreiner, Monika
name: Mewis, Inga
name: Borchert, Andrea
name: Pfeiffer, Andreas F. H.
Publisher: name: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften::610 Medizin und Gesundheit

description: Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus L.) contains high concentrations of benzylglcosinolate. We found that a hydrolysis product of benzyl glucosinolate—the benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC)—modulates the intracellular localization of the transcription factor Forkhead box O 1 (FOXO1). FoxO transcription factors can antagonize insulin effects and trigger a variety of cellular processes involved in tumor suppression, longevity, development and metabolism. The current study evaluated the ability of BITC—extracted as intact glucosinolate from nasturtium and hydrolyzed with myrosinase—to modulate i) the insulin-signaling pathway, ii) the intracellular localization of FOXO1 and, iii) the expression of proteins involved in gluconeogenesis, antioxidant response and detoxification. Stably transfected human osteosarcoma cells (U-2 OS) with constitutive expression of FOXO1 protein labeled with GFP (green fluorescent protein) were used to evaluate the effect of BITC on FOXO1. Human hepatoma HepG2 cell cultures were selected to evaluate the effect on gluconeogenic, antioxidant and detoxification genes and protein expression. BITC reduced the phosphorylation of protein kinase B (AKT/PKB) and FOXO1; promoted FOXO1 translocation from cytoplasm into the nucleus antagonizing the insulin effect; was able to down-regulate the gene and protein expression of gluconeogenic enzymes; and induced the gene expression of antioxidant and detoxification enzymes. Knockdown analyses with specific siRNAs showed that the expression of gluconeogenic genes was dependent on nuclear factor (erythroid derived)-like2 (NRF2) and independent of FOXO1, AKT and NAD- dependent deacetylase sirtuin-1 (SIRT1). The current study provides evidence that BITC might have a role in type 2 diabetes T2D by reducing hepatic glucose production and increasing antioxidant resistance.
AN APPRAISAL OF POLICIES OF LAND ACQUISITION AND RESETTLEMENT OF INVOLUNTARY DISPLACED PEOPLE IN SHANGHAI (1978-2005)
Creators: name: Mazhar Abbas, Samma Faiz Rasool
Publisher: name: TuEngr Group
Year: 2019
Subjects: Urbanization
Rehabilitation Policy
Forcible dislocation
Social security policy
Economic reform
Cernia model.

description: International Transaction Journal of Engineering, Management, & Applied Sciences & Technologies, 10, 12, 10A12J: 1-14
EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT ON FUNCTIONING AND DEVELOPMENT OF PASSENGER MOTOR TRANSPORT SERVICES IN URBAN AGGLOMERATIONS
Creators: name: A.E. Kravchenko, D.A. Gura
Publisher: name: TuEngr Group
Year: 2019
Subjects: Market of transportation services
Passenger Transportation Services
Urban crowding
Passenger trip
Time spent on a trip
Route Performance evaluation.

description: International Transaction Journal of Engineering, Management, & Applied Sciences & Technologies, 10, 12, 10A12K: 1-12
Telling the Truth about Turner Syndrome: Disclosure of a diagnosis and infertility to a romantic partner
Creators: name: Carroll, Niri
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2015
Subjects: Turner syndrome
disclosure
romantic partners
genetic counseling
self-esteem
advice
Infertility

description: Turner syndrome (TS) is a sex chromosome abnormality causing a variety of physical features, renal and cardiac defects, and infertility. TS occurs when one sex chromosome is partially or completely lost, resulting in a karyotype of 45,X, in true or mosaic form, in most affected females. Research has shown that women with TS often struggle with low self-esteem and have trouble forming social and romantic relationships. In addition, studies have identified infertility as the primary concern for these women, no matter their age. Little research however, has looked at the process and outcomes of disclosure of TS and infertility by these women, and research specifically on discussions with romantic partners is lacking. We created a qualitative study exploring the experiences of women with TS who disclosed their syndrome and infertility to romantic partners. This study involved semi-structured in-depth interviews with 10 women that focused on feelings about life with TS and infertility, disclosure to romantic partners and advice for other women. Our participants ranged in age from 23-38 years, and the number of partners they had ranged from one-10. We transcribed the interviews and subjected them to thematic analysis, which identified common themes among participants. We found that participants who were more confident and accepting of TS had more positive experiences with disclosure to partners. Often, a strong sense of self originated from having supportive parents. Participants also felt that there is a benefit of being in control of the disclosure conversation, and that disclosure to romantic partners presents unique challenges. Most participants had positive attitudes about TS, and appreciated the opportunity to share their experiences and offer advice to others with TS. This advice included seeking guidance from women who have disclosed to partners, disclosing in a comfortable manner, being proud of yourself, and creating a strong support network. Based on our participants’ experiences and advice, we hope to create a resource that health professionals, including genetic counselors, can share with other women with TS, to help them feel confident regarding disclosure.
Cross-age learning in primary and junior grades and the self-concept.
Creators: name: Stryk Therrien, Magda Vladimira.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1998
Subjects: subject: Education, Educational Psychology.

description: This study explored the effects on self-concept of a Cross Age Learning Program (CALP) where students in grades four to six taught mathematics to students in grades one to three. All 27 participating students were judged, by their teachers, to be having difficulty in mathematics but were capable of achieving in a regular environment. These children were divided into four groups, Older Learning Partners (OLPs), Younger Learning Partners (YLPs), Older Non Learning Partners (ONLPs), and Younger Non Learning Partners (YNLPs). The OLPs and the nPs participated in learning sessions where each OLP was trained and then taught basic math to a YLP for approximately four months. The ONLPs and the YNLPs did not participate in the program. A self-concept measure, the Self Description Questionnaire-I (SDQ-I, Marsh, 1990) was administered three times to all students: before the program began, four and a half weeks into the learning sessions and then four weeks after that. The scale scores were compared for the two older groups (OLPs and ONLPs), the two younger groups (YLPs and YNLPs) and for the Learning Partners versus the Non Learning Partners (LPs and NLPs). (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Preparing better: Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) therapeutics trials lessons learned: A call to the future
Creators: name: Adam, Stacey J.
name: ACTIV Therapeutics-Clinical Working Group
name: Draghia-Akli, Ruxandra
name: Currier, Judith S.
name: LaVange, Lisa
name: Fessel, Josh P.
name: Menetski, Joseph P.
name: Read, Sarah W.
name: Tressler, Randall
name: Rosenberg, Yves
name: Hughes, Eric A.
name: Higgs, Elizabeth S.
name: Buchman, Timothy G.
Publisher: name: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2024

description: The Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines Therapeutic-Clinical Working Group members gathered critical recommendations in follow-up to lessons learned manuscripts released earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic. Lessons around agent prioritization, preclinical therapeutics testing, master protocol design and implementation, drug manufacturing and supply, data sharing, and public-private partnership value are shared to inform responses to future pandemics.
title: The Politics and Philosophy of Wyndham Lewis's Representations of the Body
Creators: name: Brent, Trevor Lovelock
Publisher: name: Goldsmiths, University of London
Year: 2005

description: The Politics and Philosophy of Wyndham Lewis's Representations of the Body examines the significance of representations of the body in the written work, both theoretical and fictional, of Wyndham Lewis. The central question of the thesis is: how does the body function as a ground for identity in Lewis's work? This question is addressed by looking at five thematic areas of Lewis's work, each of which forms the basis of a chapter: reality, mind-body dualism, gender, race, and the crowd. The work of Slavoj Zizek is used to argue that Lewis's theoretical work is characterised by an antipathy towards 'the passion for the Real' and a desire to maintain a belief-sustained sense of 'reality'. As a result, the body has an ambivalent status: it is both an emblem of the 'reality' of the personality and a threat to it, representing its unavoidable 'thingness', its 'Real', as it were. This ambivalence is best expressed in Lewis's fiction, where the weaknesses and inconsistencies of his theories are dramatised and exposed. Lewis's ambivalence towards the body results in a split between his theory and his rhetoric, a split that is particularly noticeable in his work on gender and race, in which initially racist and sexist language is undercut by his theoretical discomfort with the biological grounds of such rhetoric. This ambivalence characterises Lewis's often controversial politics, which cannot be understood without it being taken into account. The thesis concludes that Wyndham Lewis had a fundamentally ambivalent attitude toward the body: it fails to provide a solid ground for identity, and yet it refuses to melt completely into air. This persistence of the body makes it a crucial sticking point, and Lewis produces compelling and contradictory images of it which attest to its implacable significance in his work.
Digital noise cancellation for xDSL.
Creators: name: Fenton, David.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1999
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Electronics and Electrical.

description: Digital subscriber line (DSL) modems operate in frequency bands which coincide with many significant radio-frequency interference sources, particularly commercial AM radio. In these bands, the balance of most twisted-pair cables is low enough to allow substantial interference to transfer to differential mode, disrupting the transmitted information signal. To compensate for this handicap, xDSL receivers will require a front-end circuit which uses the common-mode signal as a reference to cancel out as much differential interference as possible. Unfortunately, design of such a canceller is complicated by the statistical properties of the interference, as well as the complex interactions between the differential and common-mode signals on the loop. If a digital canceller is desired, compensation for finite-precision effects poses an additional challenge. This thesis examines the feasibility of wideband digital noise cancellation for xDSL. Emphasis is placed on the stability of the adaptive algorithm, the number of bits of precision required, the adaptive filter parameters which lead to the best noise reduction, and the number of filter taps required. Simulation results indicate that digital cancellation is possible, giving a maximum noise reduction of 30--40 dB. Some hardware implementation problems are also identified in the course of the simulations.