The concept of charisma, while gaining greater usage in contemporary society, is under-researched and often misused. This thesis discusses the classical theoretical conception of charisma, beginning with Max Weber, and provides three empirical illustrations of charismatic leadership in the fields of religion, politics, and the media.

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s Underground Research Laboratory was built to allow study of concepts for the long-term disposal of Canada’s used nuclear fuel in a deep geological repository. The underground portion of the facility was decommissioned and permanently closed in 2010. Decommissioning included the installation of a seal at the intersection of the access shaft with a hydraulically active fracture zone located at 275 m depth. The objective of the shaft seal is to limit potential groundwater mixing above and below the fracture zone. This project provided a unique opportunity to study the hydro-mechanical evolution of a full-scale shaft seal installed under conditions similar to those in a deep geological repository. This thesis provides an overview of the instrumentation and data logging techniques that have been successfully used to monitor the initial behaviour of the shaft seal in this unique underground environment.

PGC-1α regulates cardiac mitochondrial biogenesis and energy metabolic gene expression, thus transcriptional regulation of PGC-1α gene expression is of great importance in understanding metabolic gene expression in cardiac health and disease. We provide evidence that estrogen related receptor α (ERRα, which also plays a role in cardiac energy metabolism, regulates expression of the PGC-1α gene via direct interaction with the PGC-1α gene promoter. In the presence of an inverse agonist to ERRα PGC-1α gene expression was significantly decreased, while over-expression of ERRα increased PGC-1α gene expression. We have also demonstrated that expression of PGC-1α was down regulated in hypoxic cardiomyocytes due to histone deacetylation. Our data identify ERRα as a novel regulator of cardiac PGC-1α gene expression, and suggests that promoter deacetylation in hypoxia plays a role in reduced PGC-1α expression. These results reveal a new mechanism that may contribute to energetic derangement in the heart during ischemia and/or failure.

This thesis investigates the feasibility of hybrid converter based arrangements for High Voltage direct current (HVdc) transmission systems. The conventional HVdc transmission systems, which use Line Commutated Converter (LCC) technology, require ac voltage and large amounts of reactive power to operate; Voltage-Sourced Converter (VSC) based HVdc schemes, on the other hand, while maintaining most of the advantages of LCC-based systems, have overcome a number of disadvantages inherent to conventional LCC systems. Their ability to provide voltage support to very weak ac networks through generating reactive power, while delivering real power, makes them an ideal option for providing reliable power to remote locations. These converters suffer disadvantages such as higher costs, sensitivity to dc-side faults, and smaller ratings in comparison to conventional converters. This research exploits a new approach and introduces a hybrid configuration of VSC and LCC converters. The hybrid converter combines the advantages of these two converter types, while trying to stay far from their disadvantages. The thesis investigates and discusses the benefits of using VSC-LCC hybrid converters for HVdc transmission systems in stations where support of ac voltage is mostly absent (very weak ac system). It concludes that Series Hybrid Converter (SHC) configuration is a promising option for very weak ac system applications comparing to Parallel Hybrid Converter (PHC) option. Using simplified mathematical models and extensive effort on digital time simulation with PSCAD / EMTDC program, the technical feasibility of implementing SHC has been demonstrated.

The need to utilize research in decision making is considered critical in the present health care environment. For health research to be applied, it must have value. However, the question of the value of research has not been fully explored in the literature. The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of occupational therapists’ perceptions of the value of research. Semi-structured interviews were completed in Winnipeg, Manitoba with 10 occupational therapists. The four themes in the study influencing their perceptions of the value of research were their experiences with research, the purpose of research, the resources to support research and the clinician and researcher culture. A number of elements were identified which may have informed the occupational therapists’ perceptions of the value of research. Having an understanding of the elements that may influence the perceptions of the value of research may assist with developing effective research utilization programs.

The purpose of this study was to compare the discharge outcomes of two client groups who were admitted to geriatric rehabilitation units (GRUs). The Emergency Department or ED Group were clients seen by WRHA Geriatric Program Assessment Team (GPAT) geriatric clinicians in EDs and admitted directly to geriatric rehabilitation units and the Acute Group were clients admitted from inpatient acute care units to geriatric rehabilitation units. The study design was a retrospective study using administrative data to examine two groups for the following discharge outcomes: discharged home, discharged to personal care home, and poor outcomes of either medical instability or mortality. The study results found that 70% of clients assessed by GPAT clinicians and admitted from the ED directly to a GRU were discharged home. Similarly, 68% of the clients admitted from acute inpatient units to a GRU were discharged home. The discharge home outcomes indicate that geriatric clinicians in consultation with team Geriatricians were able to select geriatric rehabilitation clients in a busy ED despite the need for an abbreviated evaluation period requiring rapid decision-making. Results of the study indicate that clinicians in this unique GPAT program utilizing collaboration between the ED team and clear GRU admission criteria selected ED clients with potential to benefit from the rehabilitation process and return to their homes in the community. Furthermore, 6% of the ED Group cases had poor outcomes of medical instability or mortality and 10% of the Acute Group had poor outcomes following GRU admission (see Table2).

The objective of this study is to apply digital image processing (DIP) techniques to optical coherence tomography (OCT) images and develop computer-based non-subjective quantitative analysis, which can be used as diagnostic aids in early detection of dental caries. This study first compares speckle reduction effects on raw OCT image data by implementing spatial-domain and transform-domain speckle filtering. Then region-based contour search and global thresholding techniques examine digital OCT images with possible lesions to identify and highlight the presence of features indicating early stage dental caries. The outputs of these processes, which explore the combination of image restoration and segmentation, can be used to distinguish lesion from normal tissue and determine the characteristics prior to, during, and following treatments. The combination of image processing and analysis techniques in this thesis shows potential of detecting early stage caries lesion successfully.

The purpose of this research is to better understand the health of the Roebuck Iroquois population through the study of the growth of its children. Four avenues of osteological analysis are employed to investigate this topic: the comparison of craniofacial measurements to dental age, comparison of craniofacial measurements with one another, assessment of fluctuating asymmetry, and comparisons to other populations. The Roebuck subadults demonstrated a pattern of craniofacial growth consistent with the pattern for a normal, healthy child. Growth spurts in the craniofacial complex were more difficult to observe and interpret than spurs in the long bones. Fluctuating asymmetry was not found in any of the bilateral measurements, indicating that any stress experienced by the Roebuck subadults during development was not great enough to have a detectable impact on cranial symmetry. Roebuck appeared to be similar in size and growth to two other populations with similar subsistence strategies and diets.

This thesis is a systematic study of significant American television animation programs produced between 1948 and 1980, with special mention given to selected works produced by three influential studios: Hanna-Barbera, Jay Ward and Filmation. It considers how outside forces such as network television censorship, grassroots political activism, and other social and political forces served to limit how the genre developed, and the extent to which the producers chose to test the limits to get their points across. It provides a discussion of masculine images in television animation of the 1950s and 1960s, and of the reactions of television animation producers to outside concerns regarding "violence" in children's programming, and the threat of censorship related to this, in the 1970s. My thesis demonstrates that television animation producers, as a result of the need to remain actively involved in production, were forced to change and adapt with the times around them.

When assessing preferences of individuals with developmental disabilities, choices can be described vocally or presented using objects or pictures in preference assessments. For individuals who are unable to perform auditory-visual discriminations and visual identity matching, objects instead of pictures or vocalizations need to be used for preference assessments to be effective. Considering the practical advantages of using pictures over objects, recent research has begun to focus on identifying and teaching skills needed for picture preference assessments. Although object-to-picture, picture-to-object, and generalized matching have been implicated as possible skills needed for picture preference assessments, further systematic studies are needed. The present study examined the relation between preference assessments (object vs. picture groups) and 5 discrimination skills. Based on direct paired-stimulus preference assessments completed at the beginning of the study, participants who could indicate their preferences with objects, but not with picture or vocal presentation, were assigned to the Object Group (n = 11); and participants who could indicate their preferences with both objects and pictures, but not vocal presentation, were assigned to the Picture Group (n = 9). The 5 discrimination tasks included: (a) object-picture matching and (b) its symmetry, picture-object matching; (c) generalized object-picture matching and (d) its symmetry, generalized picture-object matching; and (e) generalized identity picture-picture matching. All task stimuli were parts from everyday objects. Independent sample t-tests with Bonferroni correction showed that the percentages of correct responses were significantly higher in the Picture Group than in the Object Group on 4 of the 5 tasks (p < .01). Individual data showed that 8 of the 9 Picture Group participants met the pass criterion (80% or higher correct responses) on at least 1 discrimination task, with 6 participants passing 2 or more tasks. In contrast, only 1 of the 11 Object Group participants met the pass criterion on 1 discrimination task. The findings suggest that the effectiveness of picture preference assessments is not dependent on one specific discrimination, but possibly the ability to perform generalized matching.