Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian women. Chronic neuropathic pain post breast surgery (PPBS), also known as chronic post mastectomy/lumpectomy pain syndrome, is a poorly understood complication posing a significant clinical challenge with major negative impact on patients' quality of life. This study aims to: 1) provide a preliminary determination of the prevalence rate of women who suffer from PPBS; and 2) explore potential risk factors associated with women developing PPBS. This pilot study used a prospective, longitudinal, quantitative survey design, with a demographic questionnaire and the Brief Pain Inventory. Seventeen women were recruited at a breast health clinic in Western Canada; 23.5% developed PPBS. Younger age (≤50 years), more invasive surgery, acute post-operative pain, and less analgesic use at the acute post-operative period, were more commonly found in the women who developed PPBS. Future research is required to confirm the significance of these potential risk factors.

The outcome of infection with Leishmania major depends in part on the balance between arginase and inducible nitric oxide synthase in macrophages. These enzymes compete for the substrate L-arginine. Leishmania major also encodes an arginase gene but, the role of this parasite-derived enzyme in infection remains unclear. We hypothesize that parasite-derived arginase influences parasite survival and host immune response to L. major. To examine this hypothesis, we employed an arginase deficient null mutant L. major in in vitro and in vivo experiments. Our results show that deficiency of parasite-derived arginase impaired parasite proliferation and disease pathogenesis. Increased arginase activity however neither affected nitric oxide production, nor did it correlate with IL-4 production. Primary infection of normally resistant hosts causes a chronic infection and does not protect them against re-infection. Thus, parasite-derived arginase is of nutritional importance to L. major, but is not a feasible therapeutic drug target.

It has been established that legged, off-road vehicles exhibit better mobility, obtain higher energy efficiency and provide more comfortable movement than those of tracked or wheeled vehicles while moving on rough terrain. Previous studies on legged mechanism design were performed by selecting the length of each link by trial and error or by certain optimization techniques where only a static force analysis was performed due to the complexity of the mechanisms. We found that these techniques can be inefficient and inaccurate. In this paper, we present the design and the optimization of a single degree-of-freedom 8-bar legged walking mechanism. We design the leg using the mechanism design theory because it offers a greater control on the output motion. Furthermore, a dynamic force analysis is performed to determine the torque applied on the input link. The optimization is set up to achieve two objectives: i) to minimize the energy needed by the system and ii) to maximize the stride length. The kinematics and dynamics of the optimized leg mechanism are compared to the one by trial-and-error. It shows that large improvements to the performance of the leg mechanism can be achieved. A prototype of the walking mechanism with 6 legs is built to demonstrate the performance.

Mercury (Hg) is a known neurotoxin that is often found in concentrations exceeding safe consumption guidelines in aquatic biota. This is evident in northern Canada, where northerners consume significant amounts of animals such as beluga, seals and burbot. In the Mackenzie River Basin, recent increases in Hg concentration in many of these animals over the past 25 years have been observed. The warming climate, and with it, the changing carbon cycle, are hypothesised in this thesis to play a role in the increases. Within the context of the two major zones (mountainous and peatland), with distinct geomorphology, hydrology and geology, traditional fossil fuel exploration methods (Rock-Eval pyrolysis, organic petrography) have been employed in a novel manner on recent sediments to qualify and quantify the OM and several geochemical analyses have been used to determine the geochemical sources of Hg. The mountainous zone is composed mostly of refractory OM, from forest fire char and heavily reworked OM. It also contains, and fluxes, most of the Hg, which derives from oxidative weathering and erosion of widespread sulfide minerals. However, Hg from this zone is in chemical forms of limited bioavailability. The peatland zone has a greater proportion of labile OM, with higher concentrations of DOC and algal-derived OM. Lake-fed tributaries in this zone contain even higher proportions of labile OM. At one of these sites, the sediment core record shows that Hg has been increasingly associated with labile OM over time, due to increasing primary productivity accelerated by climate change, and is resulting in an increase in scavenged Hg. The temporal trend in algal-bound Hg in the sediment record matches very well with the temporal trend of Hg in burbot sampled from the area, providing one of the first and strongest lines of evidence for the climatic impact on Hg bioaccumulation in Arctic ecosystems.

Conducting polymers have emerged as a class of innovative materials with tunable properties that are useful in a diverse range of applications. For example, the electronic properties and molecular structure of these materials can be modified electrochemically. Reported in 2008, the creation of a conducting polymer hybrid system PPy(Li+DBS-) that exhibits novel time and potential dependent conductivity can be utilized to create dynamic memory. Unlike modern silicon-based devices which are limited by scaling factors such as quantum tunneling, this system is expected to have exceptional scaling properties allowing memory devices to operate down to the low nm range. The work embodied within this thesis describes results based on the scaling properties of PPy(Li+DBS-) from 5 to 45 μm on the potential dependent current transients that are used as a basis for dynamic memory applications. The deviation from theorized conduction systems has led to a thorough understanding of the anisotropic nature of PPy(Li+DBS-) determined through finite elemental simulation methods. The temperature dependence of the system is also studied to verify activation energies associated with carrier and ion mobility.

This thesis explores the relationships between self-esteem and socio-economic factors and characteristics of maternity group home program participation. Self-esteem is used sometimes as the independent variable and sometimes as the dependent variable in this study. A sample of 268 women was used representing the data available in an administrative database on women admitted to the Villa Rosa program for the period from May 1998 to February 2009, after removing cases with too much of the self-esteem measure missing. Methods of analysis included; paired samples t-tests, independent samples t-tests, analysis of variance, repeated measures analysis of variance, standard multiple regression, sequential multiple regression, and multinomial logistic regression. Attempts were made to control for the influence of the several factors. The main findings of the research included: 1) Ethnicity was not found to be significantly related to discharge self-esteem. 2) Self-esteem of residents was found to be significantly healthier at discharge from the program than at intake to the program. 3) Self-esteem was not found to be significantly different between women who participated in a post-natal semi-independent living component of the program and those who did not when controlling for control variables. When the control variable of length of time in the program was removed self-esteem was found to be significantly healthier for women who participated in the post-natal semi-independent living component of the program than those who did not. 4) A significant difference was not found between the discharge self-esteem of women who reported as living with a disability at intake, and women who did not. 5) Self-esteem at discharge was found to be healthier with an increased number of days spent at Villa Rosa. 6) Less healthy intake self-esteem was associated with plans not to breastfeed. 7) More supportive attitudes of social support network as measured at intake were shown to be linked to healthier self-esteem at discharge. 8) Experiences of abuse were not shown to be significantly related to discharge self-esteem. Both support received from the significant findings, and a lack of support from insignificant findings, were found for several self-esteem theories.

Drosophila females remate generating an opportunity for sperm competition. Normally the second male to mate sires the majority of progeny; however, conspecific sperm precedence is the phenomena whereby the male of the same species as the female fathers the majority of the progeny regardless of mating order. I surveyed D. simulans laboratory strains carrying D. mauritiana P-element insertions (IG lines) for their ability to sire progeny when second to mate. I found significant variation in the proportion of progeny sired by IG lines, with lines showing sperm competitive breakdown (P2< 0.5). I identified two loci that account for conspecific sperm precedence between D. simulans and D. mauritiana. 81 candidate genes were identified and narrowed down the list on the basis of differences in male reproductive tract gene expression to five (P< 0.05) or eight (P<0.1) genes. A larger concentration of differentially regulated genes within the 89B position was found. Using coding sequence data I identified 10 genes as candidate conspecific male precedence genes. Genes in the 89B region come to light as candidates for future functional studies of conspecific male precedence.

This research explores the experiences and needs of five young people with FASD in care. Data was gathered through personal interviews with youth in care, guided by an anti-oppressive research philosophy. The findings suggest that youth in care with FASD experience a myriad of challenges throughout their journeys in care with regard to placements, caregivers, and the transition to adulthood for which the impact for young people was difficult to understand. The high degree of secondary disabilities of FASD was found to be alarming in this group of young people. The study also found that those with more of an awareness of their disability had the capacity to speak to some of their support needs. All of the youth revealed strengths within themselves and reported having goals and dreams for their futures. A number of recommendations, which include input from participants, are highlighted, with the intention of providing some suggestions for best practice with our young people with FASD in care and policy changes within the systems working with this population.

The current generations of children are being taught in schools which are not relevant to their daily lived experiences. “Schools and the curricula that exist today are more suited to the needs of the industrial age than those of the information age” (Yelland, 9). As a result, students are becoming disengaged from the learning process. The vast permeation of digital media into our surroundings and a shrinking global society demand a new typology in learning environments. This typology must address students' creativity, social needs, and the importance of community and sense of place. How can these needs be met through the incorporation of technology – often controversial and deemed isolative and disconnecting? Can technology be used as a social tool to create healthy and productive learning spaces? This proposal responds to these questions by presenting a conceptual re-design of an elementary school in Winnipeg. The supporting theoretical framework outlines literature which examines education, technology and society, and space and place. Workshops and interviews with students and teachers are analyzed, and design precedents, strategies and methods are discussed. Collectively, the theories, concept, and research presented provide insight into the creation of an interactive, flexible, and community-focused learning environment.

Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) is a very important tree species and is known not only for its sap in the production of maple syrup, but also for its superior hardwood quality and popular ornamental properties. In the effort to improve the diversity of the hardwood tree species in Manitoba, an effective propagation method for sugar maple is needed. The study tested several propagation techniques namely in vitro shoot organogenesis, induced embryo conversion and rooting of greenwood cuttings. Shoot multiplication was achieved using bud and embryo explants, however the rate of shoot production was very low implying that the culture conditions required some optimizations. Dormant isolated embryos were induced to germinate and convert into whole plants in vitro, eliminating the need for long stratification period. The study found the highest embryo conversion frequencies by the addition of cytokinin 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) at 0.5-1.5 mg/L or thidiazuron (TDZ) at 0.01 mg/L into the culture medium. Greenwood cuttings of several hardy cultivars, including ‘Jefcan’, ‘Bailsta’ and ‘Green Mountain’ were compared for rooting capacity. In 2008, cutting type, rooting hormone and collection time were found to significantly influence rooting. In the following year, the study was expanded to compare different rooting conditions, using peat-perlite mix in fog system, sand beds under intermittent misting, and commercial peat plugs under automated misting system. Rooting was improved by selecting for medial-type cuttings and by promoting cutting survival through the the use of peat-based rooting medium and the maintenance of cool temperatures during the rooting period. The application of auxin did not increase rooting frequency of ‘Jefcan’ cuttings, but considerably improved the quality of roots produced, which may affect cutting survival upon transplantation.