Recent studies suggest that patients identified by the Rome III criteria for functional constipation (FC) and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) are not distinct groups. Previous studies have shown that patients with IBS-C exhibit no or limited 5-HT response to meal ingestion, with plasma concentrations remaining similar to those under fasting conditions. The aim of this study was to determine whether patients with FC show a similar 5-HT response to meal ingestion as patients with IBS-C, and to investigate any relationship to gastrointestinal transit and visceral sensitivity. 23 female IBS-C patients, 11 female FC patients and 23 healthy female volunteers (HV) were recruited. Platelet depleted plasma 5-HT concentrations were measured under fasting (2hrs) and fed (4hrs) conditions. Within 2 weeks, oro-caecal (hydrogen breath test) and colonic (radio-opaque markers followed by X-ray) transit, along with rectal sensitivity (barostat) were determined. The main findings of the study are: 1. The FC patients had no 5-HT response to meal ingestion, as previously seen in patients with IBS-C, compared with healthy volunteers. 2. Patients with FC had abdominal and bowel movement associated symptoms as well as delayed colonic transit (whole gut transit), similar to that seen in IBS-C compared with healthy volunteers. 3. The mean pain threshold in patients with FC was similar to that seen in healthy volunteers, with more patients with hyposensitivity or insensitivity in this group compared with IBS-C and no patients with hypersensitivity. 4. Patients with FC had a shift towards higher fasting and postprandial PDP 5-HT levels, unlike patients with IBS-C, compared to healthy volunteers.This study show that based on symptoms, IBS-C and FC patients have more similarities than differences. However, although patients with FC had a similar 5-HT response to a test meal, they had different fasting 5-HT levels and some different physiological findings on assessment of visceral sensitivity with barostat.

Recongurable computing technology has progressed to a stage where it is now possible to achieve orders of magnitude performance and power eciency gains over conventional computer architectures for a subset of high performance computing applications. In this thesis, we investigate the potential of recongurable computers to accelerate genomic sequence alignment specically for genome sequencing applications. We present a highly optimized implementation of a parallel sequence alignment algorithm for the Berkeley Emulation Engine (BEE2) recongurable computer, allowing a single BEE2 to align simultaneously hundreds of sequences. For each recongurable processor (FPGA), we demonstrate a 61X speedup versus a state-of-the-art implementation on a modern conventional CPU core, and a 56X improvement in performance-per-Watt. We also show that our implementation is highly scalable and we provide performance results from a cluster implementation using 32 FPGAs. We conclude that recongurable computers provide an excellent platform on which to run sequence alignment, and that clusters of recongurable computers will be able to cope far more easily with the vast quantities of data produced by new ultra-high-throughput sequencers.

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

This research examines the topic of the Christian mission to Muslims in Ethiopia. The Insider Movement paradigm is examined with respect to the meaning of conversion and identity and how these concepts may best be understood in support of Muslim outreach. The study area of Ethiopia is not a Muslim majority nation but rather is pluralistic society and political system. Thus the most specific application is other sub-­‐ Saharan, non-­‐Muslim majority nations in Africa. The cultural and historical context of Ethiopia is first explored with special reference to factors arising from or focusing upon religion. Literature is reviewed regarding evangelization, church planting, and outreach to Muslims. The concept of conversion is discussed at length from both social science and Christian theological paradigms. The topic of identity is explored including identity theory as used among sociology, psychology, anthropology, and philosophy. The research was conducted and analyzed using concepts from the philosophical orientation of critical hermeneutics with specific use of the communication theory of Jurgen Habermas and narrative theory of Paul Ricoeur. The narrative identity theory of Ricoeur was found to be appropriate to a mission to Muslims. An understanding of conversion as being a process of transformation into Christ-­‐likeness through the power of the Holy Spirit was found to be most compatible with Muslim outreach. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

This research examines the topic of the Christian mission to Muslims in Ethiopia. The Insider Movement paradigm is examined with respect to the meaning of conversion and identity and how these concepts may best be understood in support of Muslim outreach. The study area of Ethiopia is not a Muslim majority nation but rather is pluralistic society and political system. Thus the most specific application is other subSaharan, non-Muslim majority nations in Africa. The cultural and historical context of Ethiopia is first explored with special reference to factors arising from or focusing upon religion. Literature is reviewed regarding evangelization, church planting, and outreach to Muslims. The concept of conversion is discussed at length from both social science and Christian theological paradigms. The topic of identity is explored including identity theory as used among sociology, psychology, anthropology, and philosophy. The research was conducted and analyzed using concepts from the philosophical orientation of critical hermeneutics with specific use of the communication theory of Jurgen Habermas and narrative theory of Paul Ricoeur. The narrative identity theory of Ricoeur was found to be appropriate to a mission to Muslims. An understanding of conversion as being a process of transformation into Christ-likeness through the power of the Holy Spirit was found to be most compatible with Muslim outreach. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)