cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Formal Property-Oriented Design of Voting Rules Using Composable Modules
Creators: name: Diekhoff, Karsten
name: Kirsten, Michael
name: Krämer, Jonas
Publisher: name: Karlsruhe
Year: 2019
Subjects: Social choice
Formal correctness
Modular design

description: Voting rules aggregate multiple individual preferences in order to make a collective decision. Commonly, these mechanisms are expected to respect a multitude of different notions of fairness and reliability, which must be carefully balanced to avoid inconsistencies. We present an approach for the sound and flexible design of voting rules from composable modules. Formal composition rules guarantee social choice properties from properties of the individual components. The approach can be applied to many voting rules from the literature.
The Impact of Overexpression/Knockdown of TDP-43 and Cabeza on Circular RNAs in Drosophila melanogaster
Creators: name: Blumen, Ilana (Kai)
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2021
Subjects: TDP-43
Cabeza
Caz
FUS
ALS
Mbl
Muscleblind
circRNAs
Neuromuscular Diseases
RNA

description: Two proteins implicated in ALS in humans are TDP-43 and FUS. This project studied the impact of the overexpression of TDP-43 and knockdown of the fly homolog of FUS, Cabeza, on abundant circular RNAs (circRNAs) in D. melanogaster, in search of potential connections between the expression of these genes and neurodegenerative diseases. circRNAs are hyperstable, noncanonical backsplicing products that accumulate with age, but little is known about their relationship with ALS. To monitor expression levels, RNA was isolated from fly heads and quantified through RT-qPCR. These flies were modified in two ways: a humanized TDP-43 (hTDP-43) gene was introduced and overexpressed using a drug-inducible system; normal expression of cabeza in flies was disrupted using RNA interference (RNAi). The highly-conserved gene muscleblind (mbl), which is responsible for myotonic dystrophy, could possibly be linked to ALS as well; a complementation assay of flies with mutated mbl alleles was completed to better understand the relationship between mbl, FUS, and TDP-43 in connection to neurodegenerative outcomes. The data indicate a connection between TDP-43 and the abundant circRNAs PlexA and Haspin, and a connection between Cabeza and circRNA Haspin, indicating these circRNAs could be involved with ALS. The complementation assay showed that at least one functional copy of mbl is necessary for survival. These results contribute to the exploratory study of circRNAs, and lay the groundwork for future, specific study of TDP-43 and FUS/Cabeza in relation to the nervous system and its disorders in humans.
'Voting early, often': Early voting at federal, NSW and Victorian elections, 2002-2015
Creators: name: Reader, Nathaniel
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: This thesis is the first comprehensive study of early voting at Australian elections, the fastest growing trend in Australian electoral participation. With more than a third of Australian electors voting before Election Day at the 2016 federal election – and the continued growth of convenience voting in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada – this thesis makes an important contribution to Australian electoral administration. It also contributes to the Australian and international electoral studies literature by offering rare theoretical and empirical insights into early voting behaviour from a country with compulsory voting.
Molecular Mechanism of Bifunctionality in an Ancestral Apicomplexan Dehydrogenase
Creators: name: Hood, Miriam
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biochemisty
Protein Evolution
Specificity
Apicomplexan
Malate Dehydrogenase
Lactate Dehydrogenase
Ancestral Reconstruction
Enzymology

description: Malate dehydrogenases (MDH) and lactate dehydrogenases (LDH) are essential metabolic enzymes that share similar folds and mechanisms despite their strong substrate specificity. The unicellular eukaryotes of the Apicomplexa phylum, responsible for a variety of human diseases, have convergently evolved a unique and highly specific LDH from an MDH. The Apicomplexan LDH and MDH are an excellent model for the evolution of enzyme specificity due to the presence of a putative promiscuous intermediate in the evolutionary pathway. A six amino acid insertion into the active site conferred pyruvate activity by shifting the key catalytic residue from an arginine at position 102 in MDHs to a tryptophan at position 107f. However, the bifunctional intermediate contains both R102 and W107f. Though only one conformation is observed in x-ray crystallography data, I hypothesize that there are two active conformations of the intermediate. I used heteronuclear single quantum coherence nuclear magnetic resonance (HSQC NMR) to visualize a dimer of the promiscuous intermediate in the presence of each substrate. Loss of the tryptophan peak was seen in the presence of pyruvate at 25°C. I used intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence to monitor the catalytic tryptophan in the presence of each substrate. Pyruvate amplifies tryptophan fluorescence, but oxaloacetate demonstrates no\r consistent trend. Mutation of Trp107f to an alanine results in the loss of LDH activity but does not affect MDH activity.
Separation and purification of high value phytochemicals from plant biomass
Creators: name: Chan, Nicholas
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2008
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Chemical.

description: Phytochemicals are the individual chemicals from which plants are made and are alternatively referred to as natural products, which have been used since ancient times as drugs. In modern times, natural products are still used as drugs; however, more importantly they are used as a source of new leads into new bioactive compounds. Paclitaxel and betulinic acid, in particular are prized for their characteristics as anti-cancer compounds among other traits. The following work examines the extraction of paclitaxel from Taxus canadensis on a pilot scale set-up using Dynamic Pressurized Liquid Extraction (DPLE). The results are then compared to the conventional solvent extraction method in order to compare DPLE to current industrial operations. The analysis and batch separation of betulinic acid from birch bark was also examined. A paclitaxel purity of 1.1% with 90% recovery was achieved using DPLE. As well, ethanol was found to be the best solvent for betulinic acid extraction under conventional solvent extraction methods. DPLE is deemed to be worthy of further study in commercial processes.
Le travail féminin à Paris étude des statuts de métiers du XIIIe au XVIe siècle
Creators: name: Constantineau, Karine
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2008
Subjects: subject: History, European.
subject: Women's Studies.

description: Grâce aux statuts de métiers parisiens de la fin du Moyen Âge, il est possible d'approcher la place réservée aux femmes dans le milieu artisanal. Ce type d'étude a bien été mené, mais toujours pour un siècle en particulier ou un seul secteur d'activités. La présente étude analyse en revanche les règlements de métiers sur la longue durée, du XIII e au XVIe siècle, et confronte tous les groupes d'artisans peu importe leur genre et leur rôle. En examinant tous les articles des statuts replacés dans leur contexte historique, il est possible de démontrer que la présence des femmes dans les métiers change et que son rôle se modifie au cours de la période. Cette étude évolutive des statuts de métiers repose sur une analyse quantitative et qualitative des continuités et des ruptures du travail de l'artisane. Les caractéristiques du travail des femmes sont conformes à celles que connaissaient la plupart des villes européennes. Toutefois à Paris, à partir du XVe siècle, les difficultés grandissantes résultant entre autres de l'augmentation de la population, les changements économiques et une méfiance grandissante envers les femmes, ont entraîne les métiers à émettre des statuts qui deviennent plus répressifs pour contrôler cette nouvelle compétitivité. Mais cette fermeture valait aussi bien pour les hommes que pour les femmes. Finalement, le résultat le plus intéressant est celui de l'influence de la famille est ce qui permet d'expliquer plus précisement la place et le rôle de la femme dans les métiers.
The Nature of the BDS Movement on US College Campuses: A Brief Analysis in Three Case Studies
Creators: name: Truesdell, Stefany
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2016
Subjects: antisemitism
US college campus
BDS movement
Students for Justice in Palestine
UCLA
University of Michigan
Columbia University
academic boycott
anti-Semitism
anti-Zionism
boycott
divest
divestment
Students Allied for Freedom and Equality
sanction
Jewish
Palestinian
Judaism
Israel

description: This thesis studies the nature of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel on select US college campuses. Using case studies as a method of information collection and presentation, I determined the primary BDS supporting student group on each campus. I then analyzed events held by the groups in order to evaluate how the student group garners support for and advances the ideology of the BDS movement on the college campuses. Additionally, this thesis evaluates if BDS on US college campuses is contributing to the spread of a “new” form of antisemitism in the guise of anti-Zionism. The campuses studied are University of California, Los Angeles, University of Michigan, and Columbia University. The student groups examined are the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Students Allied for Freedom and Equality. Through lenses of alterity and liminality, this thesis examines the literature and activities of the aforementioned pro-BDS student groups on each campus for rhetoric, group definitions, justifications, and stances. This thesis offers an in depth examination into the language of the charters of the SJP groups as well as student reactions to events held on campus. When the language used and the details of their activities are measured against the U.S. State Department’s official definition of antisemitism, it becomes clear that there exists underpinnings, and in some cases outright examples, of antisemitism. This thesis ultimately concludes that BDS support on college campuses is indeed contributing to the evolution of a new antisemitic movement that implements a focus on the delegitimization of Israel as its primary vehicle. Additionally, this thesis theorizes that without better, and in some cases more, education of college students about the nature of what is and is not antisemitism, this troubling trend will continue to grow and gain popular support.
Alain Lipietz : vers l'espérance écologique : qu'en est-il de l'État.
Creators: name: Moïse, Antoine Pierre.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2002
Subjects: subject: Political Science, General.

description: L'itinéraire intellectuel de Lipietz est fondé sur une préoccupation constante pour les rapports sociaux, comme maoïste, puis comme régulationniste et par la suite comme écologiste. Mais cette préoccupation s'organise autour d'une certaine forme de contestation. Dans sa phase maoïste il a participé aux contestations de 1968 en France. Dans ses travaux sur la régulation fordiste il se préoccupe des rapports sociaux qui se tissent dans l'entreprise et qui sont cautionnés par le pouvoir législatif et règlementaire de l'État. Le rapport salarial, et son corollaire la consommation de masse, vont permettre la régulation d'un régime d'accumulation intensif dans les pays développés d'Europe, d'Amérique du Nord et du Japon sur une période de trente ans environ. Le fordisme entre en crise au cours des années soixante-dix et Lipietz y voit l'occasion de mettre en oeuvre un modèle de développement écologique, anti-productiviste. Si les régimes se stabilisent pas tâtonnements, comment un régime écologique préalablement défini pourrait alors se stabiliser avec succès? (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
La Convention d'orientation nationale acadienne de 1979 : un reflet du mouvement néo-nationaliste en Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick.
Creators: name: Arseneault, Micheline.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1994
Subjects: subject: History, Canadian.

description: L'objectif de cette recherche est de cerner les forces nationalistes en presence lors de la Convention d'orientation nationale acadienne (CONA) de 1979. Ce grand rassemblement, dont le but etait d'amener les Acadiens a reflechir sur le degre de pouvoir souhaite dans un eventuel projet politique, constitue un modele symbolique des divers discours nationalistes traversant l'Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick a ce moment. Elle represente d'ailleurs un evenement privilegie d'analyse de l'indecision identitaire qui caracterise les groupes nationalitaires, dans la mesure ou plusieurs discours et projets politiques ont ete defendus. En effet, un tres grand nombre de participants a la CONA ont choisi une option autonomiste (province ou pays acadien) comme leur choix d'un eventuel projet collectif. Inversement, les representants des partis politiques traditionnels, ainsi que le journal acadien l'Evangeline, ont maintenu vivement que l'epanouissement de la communaute acadienne pouvait se faire a l'interieur des structures actuelles de la province. Consequemment, l'orientation politique mise de l'avant par les participants a la CONA ne s'est jamais concretisee. Cette recherche tente d'expliquer ce phenomene en etudiant les rapports de force entre les acteurs entourant la CONA. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Genetic Counseling Training Program Admissions Teams and Racial and Ethnic Diversity: Surveying the Gatekeepers
Creators: name: Sarmiento, Ana
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2019
Subjects: genetic counseling training programs
admissions teams
diversity
racial and ethnic diversity
genetic counseling
diversity in healthcare
healthcare workforce

description: A racial and ethnic diversity gap has been observed between the healthcare workforce and the populations it serves. This gap is especially striking within the genetic counseling workforce, with the most recent Professional Status Survey (PSS) demonstrating 95% White membership. Despite years of documented efforts on behalf of the genetic counseling profession to diversify its workforce, the diversity gap has seen very minimal improvement since the inception of the field in 1969. Notably missing from this research are the voices of genetic counseling training programs. The aim of the study was to survey genetic counseling program directors and program admissions teams to gain insight into their views and perceptions of, and efforts to increase diversity in the profession. Eighty-two program admissions team members participated in our survey. We found that most respondents did not think the genetic counseling profession had advanced enough with respect to diversity (97.5%), and that racial and ethnic minorities were not well represented in the profession (95.1%) or the healthcare field at large (64.2%). Financial considerations emerged as the top-rated barrier to diversity as well as one of the most important factors in increasing diversity. An overwhelming majority (84%) agreed that in order to meet parity in genetic counseling, admissions standards need to be lowered. The majority of respondents (92%) agree that they engage in diversification endeavors and over half (55%) report they perform well in this respect. Respondents rated training programs, NSGC, and genetic counselors as a whole, as bearers of the greatest responsibility for diversifying the workforce. Our findings show considerable support for diversification, though substantial variability in strategies to achieve this. A collaborative approach between stakeholders to implement low cost but high-impact strategies, such as mentorship and educational outreach is recommended.
Femtosecond laser structuring for micro/nano-photonics
Creators: name: Wang, Xuewen
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: This thesis is described the overall outputs as well as the objectives, research approaches and experiment methods on using femtosecond laser pulses with pulse width shorter than (10-12 s) to modify and fabricate different materials from metals, semiconductors to dielectrics for micro and nano photonics applications. The research scopes on the femtosecond laser structuring include the defect engineering, photorefractive modification, optical anisotropy engineering and surface plasmonic nanoprinting for different photonic applications. It demonstrates the femtosecond laser structuring as an effective technique to facilitate the trend of micro/nano-photonics technologies toward high integration and miniaturization.
Evolutionary Developmental Biology in Haloarchaea
Creators: name: Du, Zhantao
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2023
Subjects: Cellular biology

description: Archaea as one of the three domains of life are prokaryotes that are similar to bacteria, yet have distinct properties that separate them from Bacteria and Eukaryota. Most archaea and bacteria cells are similar in shape and size, but there are exceptions like the Haloquadratum walsbyi, which has flat and square-shaped cells. Archaea are the predominant living organisms that thrive in extreme environments, such as hot springs and salt lakes. Being one of the major extremophiles, haloarchaea are salt-loving organisms that live in high-salinity environments where the salt concentration typically ranges from 3M to 5M, which is more than five times the salinity of seawater. Haloarchaea is known to be pleomorphic, meaning they can take on a wide range of cell morphologies. It was also recently discovered that some of the Haloarchaea species experience shape transition as they go through different growth phases. In this study, we aim to explore the morphology of haloarchaea and their shape transition by observing 100 haloarchaea species across multiple time points of their growth using a confocal microscope. Combining these data with the phylogeny of haloarchaea, we aim to understand the pattern of cell morphology among haloarchaea genera and how their evolutionary pathway shaped it.
The impact of social interaction combined with other influences on household energy-based practices
Creators: name: Allinson, Lucy
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: This research was motivated by the observed failure of residential energy reduction programs to achieve objectives and a lack of focus on social influence within these programs.
The research provides a better understanding of the role of social influence on energy-based actions, their impact on sustained change and also provides a broad model of influences that can be used to improve future programs. The research is focused on aged, vulnerable populations in Victorian households who are impacted by high energy bills and low thermal comfort.
Future intervention programs would benefit from the greater consideration of social influences within their program design.
Kitsap County 4-H Newsletter, July 2021
Creators: name: Washington State University Kitsap County Extension
Publisher: name: Washington State University
Year: 2021

description: Newsletter contents include:
description: Important Dates
description: In the Spotlight
description: 4-H in Kitsap County
description: 4-H Fundraisers
description: State & National 4-H Opportunities
description: Scholarship Opportunities
description: Volunteer News
description: 4-H Office Contact Information
X-Ray Crystallographic Investigation of Acireductone Dioxygenase Dual-Chemistry: Two Enzymes for the Price of One Amino Acid Sequence
Creators: name: Wagenpfeil, Karina
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2016
Subjects: ARD
Acireductone Dioxygenase
Metalloprotein
X-ray crystallography
Dual-Chemistry

description: Acireductone dioxygenase from Klebsiella oxytoca (KoARD) is an example of the only known metalloenzyme in literature whose chemical pathway diverges depending solely on the identity of the metal ion in its active site. Fe2+-KoARD catalyzes the on-pathway reaction, which recycles methionine in the methionine salvage pathway. Ni2+-KoARD catalyzes the off-pathway reaction, which leads to the formation of 3-(thiomethyl) propionate, formate, and carbon monoxide. The structures of these two proteins have been solved by solution NMR spectroscopy, but due to the paramagnetic nature of the metal center, the active site is modeled using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). A crystal structure of mouse ARD has also been solved, but is missing the identity of the metal. Crystal structures of Ni-KoARD and Fe-KoARD should provide the structure of the active site and mechanistic information regarding dual chemistry. Pure Ni2+-bound recombinant protein was expressed in minimal media in E. coli by adding a single metal at induction of protein expression. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry showed one mole of nickel per mole of protein. Crystal screening trials of Ni-KoARD yielded needle and plate crystals. X-ray diffraction data was collected on these Ni-KoARD crystals. Purification and crystallization of Fe-KoARD presents a greater challenge due to oxidation of Fe2+ in the active site. XAS of mouse ARD crystals confirmed the identity of the metal in the active site of Ni-MmARD and Co-MmARD crystals. Due to the instability of HsARD expressed in E. coli, a yeast expression system was also developed to allow for eukaryotic post-translational modifications.
The sin of the world: Schoonenberg's theology as a hermeneutic for the problem of child abuse.
Creators: name: Smith, Gillian.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1996
Subjects: subject: Religion, General.

description: The magnitude of the problem of the abuse of children is finally beginning to be recognized in our society. While statistics vary widely, there can be no question that the problem needs serious attention. Repeatedly, studies have shown that we cannot view child abuse as an isolated phenomenon, or as a recent one. Instead, there is a long history of the misuse of children. In order to deal with the problem as a society, we need first to understand it; where it comes from, how it is transmitted, what its effects are; and then to determine how we can end it. The Roman Catholic Church has recognized that child abuse needs to be dealt with and as a result, there is a growing literature on pastoral responses. As yet, however, even though humanity has traditionally turned to religion to explain why evil exists, there; have been no attempts at a theological explanation for the existence of the problem of child abuse. Such an explanation is needed, both in order to aid the pastoral interventions and to help the church make sense of the existence of such evil in the world. In this thesis, therefore, I propose that an explanation for the presence of child abuse can be found in the sin of the world theology as outlined by Piet Schoonenberg. I use the theories of psychoanalyst Alice Miller to outline the magnitude of the problem of child abuse, and its means of transmission. Schoonenberg's theology takes full account of the history of abuse, and of the weight of this history: the sins of the generations are such that no-one can any longer be born without being contaminated by them. Society and even the teachings of Christianity inevitably bear signs of this abuse and in turn transmit it to the next generation. But it is the immediate situation into which each child is born that Schoonenberg, and Miller see as the primary means of transmittal of the sin of the world. Schoonenberg's concept of situation is far more abstract than Miller's real documentations of child abuse, but it does provide a conceptual framework for the reality that she exposes.
title: Understanding human aneuploidy
title: the origin of trisomy and effect of recombination and maternal age
titleType: Subtitle
Creators: name: Hall, Heather Elizabeth
Publisher: name: Washington State University
Year: 2007
Subjects: Aneuploidy

description: The ability to properly segregate chromosomes during meiosis is of immense
description: importance, as aneuploidy is a leading cause of both pregnancy loss and mental
description: retardation. Despite the overwhelming levels of monosomy and trisomy in humans, only
description: two factors have been linked to increased levels of chromosome nondisjunction,
description: aberrant recombination and advanced maternal age. Even with decades of research on
description: human aneuploidy, many questions remain regarding why humans make such an
description: appalling number of meiotic errors. Accordingly, in my thesis research I examined the
description: parental and meiotic origin of several previously understudied human trisomies and
description: explored a possible relationship between the two known predisposing factors,
description: recombination and maternal age. Specifically, I conducted analyses of the origin of
description: nondisjunction for trisomies 13 and 22, with data suggesting that both of these
description: acrocentric chromosomes nondisjoin most often during the first division of maternal
description: meiosis. Additionally, it appears that reduced levels of recombination contribute to
description: increased nondisjunction of both of these chromosomes. The addition of these
description: chromosomes to the pool of studied chromosomes allows for comparison of
description: nondisjunction origin among different human chromosomes. Evidence suggests that
description: the mechanism of nondisjunction may be conserved among acrocentric, but not
description: nonacrocentric, chromosomes.
description: To further explore the role of recombination in nondisjunction, the possible role of
description: recombination in the maternal age effect was examined. Two current models that try to
description: explain the relationship between recombination and maternal age are the two hit
description: hypothesis and production line model. Each of these hypotheses makes a different
description: prediction about how levels of recombination will vary with increasing maternal age.
description: Analysis of recombination levels in mothers of varying ages who had trisomic
description: conceptions suggests that the relationship is chromosome-specific with some
description: chromosomes following the predictions of the two hit hypothesis, some the production
description: line hypothesis, and some having a unique pattern.
Dunking Debs and Charging Coeds: The Expansion and Contraction of Women's Team Sports in America, 1890-1938
Creators: name: Anhouse, Dara Jolie
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2024
Subjects: field hockey
basketball
Sports
Women's History

description: This thesis examines the rapid expansion of women’s team sports at the turn of the twentieth century and how advocates of team sports adapted their marketing and the rules of the sports to conform to narrowly defined concepts of female respectability. It is true that individual sports like cycling, tennis, and golf also incurred censure from middle-class moralists; however, I argue that team sports constitute a fundamentally different mode that warrants specific investigation. In the early 1900s, proponents modified the language they used to describe the benefits of team sports to emphasize sports as a health intervention. Still, for the first three decades of the twentieth century, the public debated whether there was a place for competition in femininity. In the 1920s and 1930s, the decline of the women’s movement and rise of conservatism forced team sport advocates to drastically alter team sports so that sports could maintain a place in a respectable woman’s life.
Drift investigation of limited ductile RC columns under biaxial bending
Creators: name: Al-Ogaidi, Yassamin K. Faiud
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: The seismic drift capacity and collapse performance of two axially loaded full-length limited ductile reinforced corner column was investigated under biaxial lateral loading using quasi-static cyclic and pseudo-dynamic hybrid testing approach under real earthquake excitation. Furthermore, the effectiveness of carbon fibre reinforced polymer sheets of the strengthened earthquake-damaged limited ductile column was evaluated experimentally. While limited ductile reinforced column have been widely constructed in low to-moderate seismic regions like Australia, the corresponding collapse analyses are limited. Formulae for estimating the drift capacity and lateral load-drift behaviour of limited ductile corner column subjected to biaxial demands were developed.
The provision of newborn screening: A conjoint analysis of women's preferences
Creators: name: Frei, Julia
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2007
Subjects: subject: Health Sciences, Health Care Management.

description: Context. There has been increasing attention concerning the use of DNA-based genetic tests in health care. Many have argued that the use of genetic technologies should be subject to public debate and scrutiny. However, few in the general population can offer views informed by actual experience with genetic services. Prenatal and newborn screening programs are examples of genetic services that are routinely offered to the general population. Objectives. To determine if conjoint analysis is a useful tool for eliciting user preferences for newborn screening services. Methods. Discrete choice conjoint analysis (CA). Results. Counterintuitive results identified issues concerning the validity of the CA instrument that was developed. As a result limitations to the usefulness of aggregate logit regression for the analysis of CA data were identified. Other analytical approaches, such as latent class analysis, merit further examination to determine their validity and the value of the information they may provide.
Transgene Silencing in the Mammalian Brain
Creators: name: Cao, Danni
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2021
Subjects: Gene silencing
Enhancer tranp
Transgene
Post development
Gene Regulation

description: Gene regulation in the brain, well-described in early development by an extensive literature, continues throughout the lifespan. However, little is currently known about gene regulation during adult brain maturation and even less about cell type-specific mechanisms. The Nelson lab developed a set of genetic tools to label specific cell types in the mouse brain using an enhancer trap based on an mCitrine reporter to study cell type-specific gene regulation. Although mCitrine expression patterns in the enhancer-trap mouse lines are stable over generations, we observe loss of mCitrine in individual mice as they age in some cell types, but not others. The transcripts for mCitrine and tTA, a component of the enhancer trap construct amplifying reporter expression, both decrease with the loss of mCitrine fluorescence. Pivotally, this silencing does not occur outside of the central nervous system and is not explained by cell death. DNA methylation is involved in this silencing event since knocking out DNA methyltransferases 1 and 3a substantially delay silencing. The silencing could reflect either global regulation throughout the genome or a genomic surveillance mechanism acting specifically on the transgene. To help distinguish between these possibilities, we utilized Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin Sequencing (ATAC-seq) to examine whether changes in accessibility of regulatory elements in cells before and after age-dependent silencing is global or localized. Preliminary results show higher accessibility near the insertion site in younger samples but global increase in accessibility in older samples. This suggests a local mechanism and argues for a previously undescribed genomic surveillance mechanism silencing transgenes in the adult brain. However, more careful analysis is needed to confirm this conclusion. Overall, our efforts suggest that silencing is an endogenous regulatory process and epigenetic regulation of neuronal gene expression continues to be refined into adulthood.
Mirror Visual Feedback-Induced Performance Improvement and the Influence of Hand Dominance
Creators: name: Rjosk, Viola
name: Kaminski, Elisabeth
name: Hoff, Maike
name: Sehm, Bernhard
name: Steele, Christopher J.
name: Villringer, Arno
name: Ragert, Patrick
Publisher: name: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: mirror visual feedback (MVF)
subject: hand dominance
subject: motor learning
subject: motor skill learning
subject: handedness
subject: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften::610 Medizin und Gesundheit

description: Mirror visual feedback (MVF) is a promising technique in clinical settings that can be used to augment performance of an untrained limb. Several studies with healthy volunteers and patients using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) indicate that functional alterations within primary motor cortex (M1) might be one candidate mechanism that could explain MVF-induced changes in behavior. Until now, most studies have used MVF to improve performance of the non-dominant hand (NDH). The question remains if the behavioral effect of MVF differs according to hand dominance. Here, we conducted a study with two groups of young, healthy right- handed volunteers who performed a complex ball-rotation task while receiving MVF of the dominant (n = 16, group 1, MVFDH) or NDH (n = 16, group 2, MVFNDH). We found no significant differences in baseline performance of the untrained hand between groups before MVF was applied. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the amount of performance improvement between MVFDH and MVFNDH indicating that the outcome of MVF seems not to be influenced by hand dominance. Thus our findings might have important implications in neurorehabilitation suggesting that patients suffering from unilateral motor impairments might benefit from MVF regardless of the dominance of the affected limb.
Insisting on God: Theistic Naturalism in Twentieth-Century American Jewish Thought
Creators: name: Guzi, Bar
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2022
Subjects: Arthur Green
Hans Jonas
Modern Jewish Thought
Mordecai Kaplan
Religious Naturalism
Jewish Studies
Religious Studies

description: This dissertation discerns a distinct approach to theological thinking shared among three twentieth-century Jewish thinkers: Mordecai Kaplan (1881-1983), Hans Jonas (1903-1993), and Arthur Green (born 1941). This approach, which I call theistic naturalism, suggests an alternative to both scientific naturalism and supernatural theism. Working within diverse intellectual schools from pragmatism to phenomenology to mysticism, the three thinkers in question propose religious worldviews that seek to incorporate the divine into an expansive conception of nature. Their differences notwithstanding, they share a temper and spirit that includes liberal sensibilities, commitment to reason and scientific inquiry, an understanding of religious and moral experiences as authentic sources of knowledge, and an emphasis on divine immanence and on the moral nature and function of Judaism. Their theistic naturalism calls for radical re-interpretations of Jewish tradition, including a rejection of supernatural theism in favor of naturalistic conceptions of God.
description: The dissertation further demonstrates how by stretching the conception of nature beyond scientism and materialism, Kaplan, Jonas, and Green were motivated not merely by the desire to retain intellectual integrity but also by a profound moral sensibility that acknowledges the importance of an activist and responsible humanity. By insisting on a sense of transcendence and mystery, their theistic naturalism seeks to restore a sense of wonder, reverence, and epistemic modesty toward the world of nature. In so doing, it seeks to serve as an antidote to modernity’s hubris, manifested in its claim for human self-reliance, emphasis on individualism, and myopia regarding modern technology’s destructive capabilities. The dissertation concludes that theistic naturalism ultimately pursues the re-enchantment of the natural world.
Genome-wide association study of borderline personality disorder reveals genetic overlap with bipolar disorder, major depression and schizophrenia
Creators: name: Witt, S. H.
name: Streit, F.
name: Jungkunz, M.
name: Frank, J.
name: Awasthi, S.
name: Reinbold, C. S.
name: Treutlein, J.
name: Degenhardt, F.
name: Forstner, A. J. [U. V. M.]
Publisher: name: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften::610 Medizin und Gesundheit

description: Borderline personality disorder (BOR) is determined by environmental and genetic factors, and characterized by affective instability and impulsivity, diagnostic symptoms also observed in manic phases of bipolar disorder (BIP). Up to 20% of BIP patients show comorbidity with BOR. This report describes the first case–control genome-wide association study (GWAS) of BOR, performed in one of the largest BOR patient samples worldwide. The focus of our analysis was (i) to detect genes and gene sets involved in BOR and (ii) to investigate the genetic overlap with BIP. As there is considerable genetic overlap between BIP, major depression (MDD) and schizophrenia (SCZ) and a high comorbidity of BOR and MDD, we also analyzed the genetic overlap of BOR with SCZ and MDD. GWAS, gene-based tests and gene-set analyses were performed in 998 BOR patients and 1545 controls. Linkage disequilibrium score regression was used to detect the genetic overlap between BOR and these disorders. Single marker analysis revealed no significant association after correction for multiple testing. Gene-based analysis yielded two significant genes: DPYD (P=4.42 × 10−7) and PKP4 (P=8.67 × 10−7); and gene-set analysis yielded a significant finding for exocytosis (GO:0006887, PFDR=0.019; FDR, false discovery rate). Prior studies have implicated DPYD, PKP4 and exocytosis in BIP and SCZ. The most notable finding of the present study was the genetic overlap of BOR with BIP (rg=0.28 [P=2.99 × 10−3]), SCZ (rg=0.34 [P=4.37 × 10−5]) and MDD (rg=0.57 [P=1.04 × 10−3]). We believe our study is the first to demonstrate that BOR overlaps with BIP, MDD and SCZ on the genetic level. Whether this is confined to transdiagnostic clinical symptoms should be examined in future studies.
Optimization of Wireless Body Area Networks for medical applications using the selective transmission algorithm
Creators: name: Nji, Soh Brendard
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: Wireless Body Area Networks comprise of devices worn on the body to sense vital signs including body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. The captured signals are then transmitted to medical doctors in order for them to help reduce the effect of, or prevent ill-health conditions of which the signals are symptoms. This research proposes a method to effectively reduce the number of signals transmitted, and their transmission time. In addition to curbing wasteful signal collision and transmission time, the proposed method reduces energy wasted by the sensing devices. This improves the technology, leading to a healthier people.
The Walls of the Romans: Boundaries and Limits in the Republic
Creators: name: Conboy, Michael James
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2013
Subjects: Classical Studies
Ancient Rome
Roman Republic
Ancient History

description: The ancient Roman Republic knew few written laws and its structure was predominantly formed from the Romans’ understanding of ancestral traditions. The Republic had no police force and, because of the sacred boundary around Rome, the pomerium, no army in the city. As such, implicit in the traditions of the Romans was a system of maintaining social order without the need for the use or threat of physical force. This thesis examines what structures comprised the Republic and maintained social order within Rome. Chapter one addresses the importance of the mos maiorum, the adhesive which bound the Romans together, and its contradictory aspects. Chapters two and three discuss the Romans’ understanding of proper and improper action in this system. Chapter four explores how envy potentially served to undermine the Republican society and how the Romans protected themselves from such adverse interactions. Chapter five, the conclusion, depicts the end of the Republic as a matter of a lack of systemic restraint and inversion of the Republican system, which meant the Romans needed a new system to maintain civil order.
The Impact of Emotional Expression on the Association between Sensoriotor Simulation and Empathic Accuracy
Creators: name: Lin, Tong
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2021
Subjects: sensorimotor simulation
mu suppression
empathic accuracy
empathy
emotional expression

description: Understanding other people’s emotions is one of the most important things people do in daily life. Multiple systems are involved in this process including sensorimotor simulation, the inhibition of activity in sensorimotor networks (Wood, Rychlowska, & Niedenthal, 2016). Sensorimotor simulation has been studied in simple tasks such as reading a narrative or looking at pictures, but it is unclear how this simulation-related brain activity might play out in daily interactions that are far more complex than the experience of research participants in traditional social neuroscience studies that use non-naturalistic stimuli, nor do we know its impact on empathic accuracy. Therefore, we explored people’s ability to understand another’s emotions by combining a face-to-face interaction with a reliable index of sensorimotor simulation, which is mu suppression, an 8–13 Hz band-range of the electroencephalogram (EEG) over the motor cortex (Ulloa, & Pineda, 2007) in this study. In the experiment, we recorded EEG as participants took turns sharing one positive and one negative experience with their partner while the other listened passively. They later watched video recordings of the shared experience and rated the emotion expressed by themselves and their partner. Correlations between self– and partner–ratings served as an estimate of empathic accuracy, the extent to which they understand each other’s emotions. Following the experience sharing task, participants watched their partner repeatedly squeezing a ball, and EEG mu suppression during the observation of the partner’s ball squeezing served as a measure of sensorimotor simulation. We hypothesized that stronger mu suppression would be correlated with higher empathic accuracy and that this association would be moderated by emotional expression displayed in conversations, such that having more emotional expression would be associated with a stronger correlation between mu suppression and empathic accuracy. We did not find a correlation between mu suppression and empathic accuracy, but we found evidence supporting a positive correlation between emotional expressions and empathic accuracy.
Epidemiological typing of Campylobacter clinical and food isolates using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.
Creators: name: Medeiros, Diane.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2002
Subjects: subject: Biology, Microbiology.

description: Campylobacteriosis is the most frequently reported type of acute bacterial gastroenteritis in Canada. In 2000 alone, 11,846 campylobacteriosis cases were reported in Canada. The majority of these cases are sporadic, and their causes remain unknown. An attempt was made to gain a better understanding of the epidemiology of campylobacteriosis, both by identifying foods and environments that harbor Campylobacter spp., and by characterizing clinical, food and environmental isolates using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Spot maps were also used to determine the geographical relationship of these campylobacteriosis cases. A variety of raw and ready-to-eat foods were tested for the presence of Campylobacter spp. From the 300 samples analyzed, Campylobacter spp. were detected in four samples, one raw beef liver sample and three raw chicken samples. An isolation rate of 9.7% was observed among the raw chicken samples tested, a significantly-reduced percentage, as compared to a 1981 Canadian survey. The prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in a poultry foodservice operation in Ottawa, was also determined from March to August 2001. No Campylobacter spp. were detected in the 125 samples tested. Campylobacter clinical and food isolates were characterized using PFGE with two restriction enzymes, SmaI and KpnI. KpnI produced more complex banding patterns than SmaI, and proved to be more discriminatory. Among the 154 isolates assigned to clusters by SmaI, only 42% gave concordant results with KpnI. In contrast, among the 53 isolates assigned to 23 clusters by KpnI, 87% gave concordant results with SmaI. Five of the 20 concordant clusters represented isolates obtained from the same person, suggesting that some of these individuals may have become re-infected. Spot map analysis revealed a significant clustering of campylobacteriosis cases in the former city of Ottawa, most of which, did not belong to the same postal code. In contrast, very few cases were observed in outlying regions; however, most of these cases belonged to the same postal code, suggesting the possible presence of local outbreaks.
title: I No Black, I Dominican
title: Dominican Blackness in the United States and Latin American Imaginary
titleType: Subtitle
Creators: name: Marquez, Arlett
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2021
Subjects: Dominicans
Dominican Blackness
Latinidad
Black identity
Mestizaje
Blacks

description: This thesis examines and responds to the common depiction of Dominicans being seen as a population that is inherently non-Black and anti-Black in national and international discourse. It focuses on Dominican Blackness as a way to deconstruct the Latine (Latinx) and Black identity by focusing on a group that holds both of these identities simultaneously. This research argues that Black Dominicans and Black Latinas(Latinxs) deserve to be critically engaged with beyond the limited narratives we have now.
description: This thesis tackles the following questions: How has the process of mestizaje, a common practice in Latin America and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, contributed to the construction of an imagined Latinidad and the historical erasure of Black Latines? How can Black Dominican experiences be used to investigate how Black Latines have navigated spaces of exclusion in the Dominican Republic? In what ways have Dominicans, a majority Black population, been regarded as generally non-Black and anti-Black in national and international discourse?
The largest subunit of RNA polymerase II as a molecular marker for inferring land plant phylogeny.
Creators: name: Jensen, Jennifer.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2002
Subjects: subject: Biology, Molecular.

description: This is an initial study using the gene encoding the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (RPB1) to elucidate evolutionary relationships among ten land plants. This is the first study to use a single nuclear protein-coding gene to examine seed plant evolution. Results show RPB1 to contain no base compositional bias and to evolve at a conservative rate that is similar in most species studied here. This gene also exists as a single copy in most species and contains enough phylogenetically informative sites to resolve all relationships among the seed plants in this study. Maximum parsimony, neighbor-joining and maximum likelihood analyses all generate identical tree topologies with similar support values at each node. The angiosperms are a monophyletic clade comprised of Nymphaea as the most basal angiosperm, followed by Magnolia, then Arabidopsis and a monophyletic monocot clade containing maize and Oryza . The gymnosperms also form a monophyletic clade with Welwitschia and pine grouped together and sister to a Cycad and Zamia clade. These findings concur with recent studies that refute the Anthophyte theory and place Nymphaea near the root of the angiosperm tree. The RPB1 sequence shows great promise to resolve the phylogenetic relationships among plants.