The reversible oxidation of cysteine by reactive oxygen species (ROS) is both a mechanism for cellular protein signaling as well as a cause of cellular injury and death through the generation of oxidative stress. The study of cysteine oxidation is complicated by the methodology currently available to isolate and enrich oxidized-cysteine containing proteins. We sought to simplify this process by reducing the time needed to process samples and reducing sample loss and contamination risk. We accomplished this by eliminating precipitation steps needed for the protocol by (a) introducing an in-solution NEM-quenching step prior to reduction and (b) replacing soluble dithiothreitol reductant with a series of newly-developed high-capacity polyacrylamide-based solid-phase reductants that could be easily separated from the lysate through centrifugation. These modifications, collectively called resin-assisted reduction and capture (RARC), reduced the time needed to perform the RAC method from 2-3 days to 4-5 hours, while the overall quality and quantity of previously-oxidized cysteines captured was increased. In order to demonstrate the RARC method’s utility in studying complex cellular oxidants, the optimized methodology was used to study cysteine oxidation caused by the redox-active metals arsenic, cadmium, and chromium. As(III), Cr(VI), and Cd(II) were all found to increase cysteine oxidation significantly, with As(III) and Cd(II) inducing more oxidation than Cr(VI) following a 24-hour exposure to cytotoxic concentrations. Label-free proteomic analysis and western blotting of RARC-isolated oxidized proteins found a high degree of commonality between the proteins oxidized by these metals, with cytoskeletal, translational, stress response, and metabolic proteins all being oxidized. Several previously-unreported redox-active cysteines were also identified. These results indicate that cysteine oxidation by As(III), Cr(VI), and Cd(II) may play a significant role in these metals’ cytotoxicity and demonstrates the utility of the RARC method as a strategy for studying reversible cysteine oxidation by oxidants in oxidative signaling and disease. The RARC method is a simplification and improvement upon the current state of the art which decreases the barrier of entry to studying cysteine oxidation, allowing more researchers to study this modification. We predict that the RARC methodology will be critical in expanding our understanding of reactive cysteines in cellular function and disease.

La tesi descrive il processo di ideazione e scrittura di lunga serialità in Italia attraverso l'osservazione etnografica di due scritture di fiction avvenute nel 2007; attraverso l'analisi etnografica si evidenziano le prassi professionali e le dinamiche interpersonali che si stabiliscono durante i processi di ideazione e scrittura, con particolare attenzione ai processi di negoziazione creativa e di differenze generazionali. / Thesis describes the creative and writing process of two fiction series in Italy, through ethnographical observation of two writing processes which took place in 2007; through ethnographical analysis professional habits and interpersonal dynamics are underlined, during creative and writing process; spotlight has been put on creative negotiations processes and generational differences.

This research explored the complexity of language teacher identity from a holistic perspective involving two features: the integration of teachers’ personal and professional experiences, and the application of conscious/rational and intuitive/tacit thought processes. The study examined four ESL teachers’ beliefs, perceptions, and interpretations about the influences of their important personal, educational, and professional experiences on the development of their teacher identity. It also investigated the overall impact of an autobiographical reflective process combined with a guided visualization activity on the re-construction of participants’ perceptions of teacher identity. The interdisciplinary theoretical orientation was grounded in theories and concepts from psychology and educational research, e.g., Personal Construct Theory (Kelly, 1955, 1963), the complementary nature of reason and intuition, and the concept of “perspective transformation” (Mezirow, 1978, 2000). The methodology was heuristic research (Moustakas, 1990, 1994) and methods included reflexive autobiographical journaling, guided visualization, and in-depth interviews. The results confirm that teacher identity is deeply embedded in one’s personal biography. Participants’ beliefs, perceptions, and interpretations nurtured in the family environment strongly influenced their school experiences, career choice, instructional practice, teaching philosophy, and teacher identity. The use of the guided visualization technique, integrated with rational reflection, considerably enhanced the depth and breadth of participants’ self-understanding and personal/professional growth, which is an important methodological contribution of the study for teacher development. The results strongly suggest that it is essential to explore teachers’ personal life experiences in order to gain a holistic understanding of the dominant influences on the development of teacher identity. The study presents a model for designing a longitudinal professional development program offered in a series of workshops to raise teachers’ awareness of the implicit influences on teacher identity and instructional practice through the application of both conscious/rational and intuitive/tacit methods to access their beliefs, perceptions, and interpretations of their life experiences.

This research explored the complexity of language teacher identity from a holistic perspective involving two features: the integration of teachers’ personal and professional experiences, and the application of conscious/rational and intuitive/tacit thought processes. The study examined four ESL teachers’ beliefs, perceptions, and interpretations about the influences of their important personal, educational, and professional experiences on the development of their teacher identity. It also investigated the overall impact of an autobiographical reflective process combined with a guided visualization activity on the re-construction of participants’ perceptions of teacher identity. The interdisciplinary theoretical orientation was grounded in theories and concepts from psychology and educational research, e.g., Personal Construct Theory (Kelly, 1955, 1963), the complementary nature of reason and intuition, and the concept of “perspective transformation” (Mezirow, 1978, 2000). The methodology was heuristic research (Moustakas, 1990, 1994) and methods included reflexive autobiographical journaling, guided visualization, and in-depth interviews. The results confirm that teacher identity is deeply embedded in one’s personal biography. Participants’ beliefs, perceptions, and interpretations nurtured in the family environment strongly influenced their school experiences, career choice, instructional practice, teaching philosophy, and teacher identity. The use of the guided visualization technique, integrated with rational reflection, considerably enhanced the depth and breadth of participants’ self-understanding and personal/professional growth, which is an important methodological contribution of the study for teacher development. The results strongly suggest that it is essential to explore teachers’ personal life experiences in order to gain a holistic understanding of the dominant influences on the development of teacher identity. The study presents a model for designing a longitudinal professional development program offered in a series of workshops to raise teachers’ awareness of the implicit influences on teacher identity and instructional practice through the application of both conscious/rational and intuitive/tacit methods to access their beliefs, perceptions, and interpretations of their life experiences.

The purpose of this multicase study was to describe and explain the perceptions of three Spanish-English culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) high achievers on their biliteracy journeys to become educators in the United States (U.S.), by answering: What elements constitute the perspectives of three L1-Spanish/L2-English CLD high achievers on the relevance of their biliteracy experience in order to become educators in the U.S.?; What factors do these three L1-Spanish/L2-English CLD high achievers perceive as key to describe their biliteracy experience?; What relevance, if any, do these three L1-Spanish/L2-English CLD high achievers perceive their biliteracy experience had for them to become educators in the U.S.?; From the perspectives of these three L1-Spanish/L2-English CLD high-achiever educators, what impact, if any, did digital technologies have on their biliteracy experience? With a critical-pedagogy approach to multicase-study (Stake, 2006) inquiry, I used online methods to collect data on three high-achieving (GPA > 3.01) L1-Spanish graduates initially identified as limited-English-proficient by the American school system. For data collection, I used a participant-selection questionnaire, individual and group semi-structured interviews via Skype, e-journals for biliteracy autobiographies, artifact e-portfolios, my reflective e-journal, and one face-to-face unstructured interview with one participant only. Concurrently, I engaged in on-going data analysis to build meaning inductively and guide further data collection, analysis, and interpretation, until saturation, in an application of the dialectical method into research (Ollman, 2008). I included the email communications with the participants and their member checks. Two external auditors reviewed all data-collection and analytic procedures. I analyzed each case individually followed by the cross-case analysis. The findings indicated the importance of family and L1-community support, host-culture insiders as mentors, access to information, empowerment by means of conscientization, and the participants' advocacy of others by becoming educators. In this way, the study identified how the participants escaped the statistics of doom, which helps understand how to better serve growing L2-English student populations. The study closed with a discussion from the viewpoint of reviewed literature and critical pedagogy, my interpretation of the findings, and suggestions for future praxis in education and research.

Accepted for publication in Physics World (January 2007) / With the vast majority of scientific papers now available online, this paper (accepted for publication in Physics World) describes how the Web is allowing physicists and information providers to measure more accurately the impact of these papers and their authors. Provides a historical background of citation analysis, impact factor, new citation data sources (e.g., Google Scholar, Scopus, NASA's Astrophysics Data System Abstract Service, MathSciNet, ScienceDirect, SciFinder Scholar, Scitation/SPIN, and SPIRES-HEP), as well as h-index, g-index, and a-index.

Résumé Cette thèse examine la nature complexe de l'identité dans les jeux vidéo solo. Elle introduit la notion d'identité-hybride, et propose un cadre analytique pour déconstruire la jouabilité à travers les genres afin de distinguer des moments d’émergence d’identité. Alors que la recherche sur l’identité se concentre couramment sur le joueur ou le personnage-joueur (ou les deux), la notion d'identité-hybride est une forme d’identité fluide, parfois éphémère, qui existe entre le joueur et le personnage-joueur. L’identité-hybride se développe au cours du processus de jeu et inclut nécessairement le joueur (expérience, contexte de jeu, etc. ), l’environnement du jeu (le design, les mécaniques, etc.), et la médiation technologique (ordinateur, console, etc.) qui facilite la jouabilité. Afin de cerner les différents aspects du gameplay qui contribuent a l'émergence de différents types d'identité, un cadre multiforme a été conçu pour isoler les interactions spécifiques? qui comprennent les interactions joueur/personnage-joueur, personnage-joueur/personnage non-joueur, joueur/environnement du jeu, personnage-joueur /environnement de jeux, et joueur/joueur. Il a été associé à un cadre secondaire qui comprend l'examen des spécificités du joueur individuel et la médiation technologique qui facilitent le jouabilité. Une analyse systématique d’expériences de jeu et des éléments de design de trois jeux différents; Mirror’s Edge (DICE, 2008), Alone in the Dark (Eden Games, 2008), et Fable 2 (Lionhead Studios, 2008), a été réalisée pour illustrer les différents degrés d’apparition d'identité dans différentes structures de jeu. En comparant les trois analyses, l'utilité de ce cadre pour mettre de l’avant les éléments qui contribuent au (ou peuvent entraver) le développement de l'identité et, plus spécifiquement, l'apparition de l'identité-hybride, est démontrée. Ces trois exemples jettent les bases d'une discussion plus profonde sur la définition, le contexte, et le processus d’identité-hybride dans les jeux vidéo en général. / Abstract This dissertation examines the complex nature of identity in single-player videogames. It introduces the concept of hybrid-identity and proposes an analytical framework to deconstruct gameplay across genres to distinguish moments of identity emergence. While identity research commonly focuses on the player or the player-character (or both), the concept of hybrid-identity is a fluid, at times fleeting form of identity that exists between the player and the player-character. Hybrid-identity develops during the networked process of videogame play and necessarily includes the player (experience, play-context, etc.), the game environment (design, mechanics, etc.), and the mediating technology (computer, console, etc.) that facilitates gameplay. In order to delineate the different aspects of gameplay that contribute to the emergence of different types of identity, a multifaceted framework was devised to isolate specific interactions between the player/player-character, player-character/non-playing character, player/game environment, player-character/game environment, and player/player. This framework was coupled with a secondary frame which includes examining the specificities of the individual player and the mediating technologies that facilitate gameplay. A systematic analysis of gameplay and design elements of three different games; Mirror’s Edge (DICE, 2008), Alone in the Dark (Eden Games, 2008), and Fable 2 (Lionhead Studios, 2008) was performed to illustrate the varying degrees of identity emergence in different game structures. The utility of the framework is demonstrated by comparing the three gameplay analyses and highlighting the elements that contribute to (and possibly hinder) identity development and more specifically, the emergence of hybrid-identity. These three examples form the foundation for a more in-depth discussion on the definition, context, and process of hybrid-identity in videogame play. / Pour respecter les droits auteur, la version electronique de cette thèse a été dépouillée de ses documents visuels et audio-visuels. La version intégrale de la thèse a été déposée au Service de la gestion des documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) represent one of the major contributions to spatial analysis and planning of the new technologies. While teachers and others have viewed its potential contribution to geographical education as considerable, it has not been known with any certainty whether they present a valuable educational tool that aids geographical education. The value of GIS to geographical education is viewed as depending on a geographical education being, in itself, valuable. Within this context, synergetic focus groups are employed to explore the conceptions of GIS held by 109 secondary school students studying Senior Geography in metropolitan and regional Queensland, Australia. A phenomenographic approach is adopted to identify the six qualitatively different ways, or conceptions, in which the participating students experience GIS as: 1. Maps and a source of maps in geography. 2. Mapping in geography: a way to use and create maps. 3. A professional mapping tool: exceeding the needs of senior geography. 4. Frustrating geography: irksome and presenting many challenges to the student-user. 5. Relevant geography: within and beyond the school experience. 6. A better geography: offering a superior curriculum, and broader geographical education, when contrasted to a senior geography that omits its use. The structural and referential elements of each of these conceptions are elucidated within corresponding Categories of Description. The qualitatively different ways in which the conceptions may be experienced are illustrated through an Outcome Space, comprising a metaphoric island landscape. This structural framework reveals that for the Senior Geography students who participated in this investigation, the extent to which GIS may augment the curriculum is influenced by the nature of students' individual understandings of how GIS manages spatial data. This research project is a response to repeated calls in the literature for teachers of geography themselves to become researchers and for a better understanding of GIS within geography education. It reviews the salient literature with respect to geography and geography education generally, and GIS within geographical education specifically. The investigation has confirmed that qualitatively different conceptions of GIS exist amongst students and that these are not consistently aligned with assumptions about its use and benefits as presented by current literature. The findings of the study contribute to knowledge of the potential educational outcomes associated with the use of GIS in geography education and decisions related to current and potential geography curricula. It provides guidance for future curriculum development involving GIS and argues for additional research to inform educators and the spatial sciences industry about the actual and perceived role of GIS within geography education.

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a popular curricular approach in medical education. This thesis asks the question: How does PBL teach medical students about what matters in medicine using qualitative methods. The research demonstrates that PBL contributes to the on-going marginalisation of social issues in medical education.

The concept of the study of transport geography is not uniform. The aim of the diploma thesis is to evaluate and characterize development of research topics, main paradigms, concepts and research methods of transport geography since its establishment as an independent discipline, furthermore, to define new research methods. In ´90s the geography turns to mobility, to the one of the main concept of transport geography. Mobility has always been at the centre of an interest of transport geography, however, its conception and the approach to mobility has been changed throughout the time, as well as conception of accessibility. Research topics of transport geography have been significantly changed in last decades. Geographical research shifts from one-sided focus on the transport and transport system to the more various and more specific relationship where a man and his perception of space and movement plays the main part.