Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Magnetic nanoparticles have great potential in the biomedical and diagnostics field. Due to their small size, the particles have a high surface-to-volume ratio which enables for biofunctionalisation with different molecular probes. This makes itpossible to target them against a wide variety of biomarkers. In this project, the aim was to develop a magnetic nanoparticle-based DNA detection method with respectto sensitivity by employing circle-to-circle amplification, which is an extension of rolling circle amplification, in order to increase the assay sensitivity. The method provides high specificity due to the use of padlock probes for amplification. The project included testing and optimising the protocol used for DNA amplification and detection with a synthetic target, which involved testing different padlock probes, incubation times and incubation temperatures. Lastly, the method was tested on a biological target. It has recently been shown that specific aggregation occurs between magnetic nanoparticles and DNA, which enables for a visual readout strategy sincethe aggregates are visible to the naked eye. Initial testing of the method yielded asensitivity of about 100 attomoles. The achieved sensitivity after the optimisation work was 1 attomole of both synthetic and biological DNA targets. This is an improvement compared to the 400 attomoles that has previously been reported with one round of rolling circle amplification. The results can be used in further development of the naked-eye DNA detection method towards the realisation of a commercially attractive bioanalytical device.

Culture and language are intrinsically linked, and the question of how to approach teaching culture whilst teaching a language is always going to be one teachers have to ask themselves. A textbook is a tool which is meant to aid teachers and remove some of the burden of decision-making from their shoulders. A good textbook should thus give a teacher all of the tools needed to teach a language, including answers to the aforementioned question. This study was a content analysis of four English Language textbooks used in Swedish high schools. The main focus was on how these textbooks present different cultures. This was then contextualized by comparisons with previous research, with cultural theories, and by a comparison with the guidelines which are presented in the Swedish curriculum. The study found that the textbooks contain little representation of cultures which are not natively English-speaking or which exist outside of the so-called Inner circle of English language, and that even when non-Inner circle cultures are represented, they are either viewed through and Inner circle lens or as a minority culture in an Inner circle context. Furthermore, the literature which is included in the books adheres strictly to the English literary canon as it is generally defined. The textbooks thus do not encourage the teaching of English as an international language, and they therefore go against the guidelines of the Swedish curriculum. They are also representative of a global issue of conservatism in ELT which has been highlighted previously by other authors—and to the existence of which they provide further and current proof.

Yes / This paper summarises 80 years of 'henge' studies. It considers the range of monuments originally considered henges and how more diverse sites became added to the original list. It examines the diversity of monuments considered to be henges, their origins, their associated monument types and their dates. Since the introduction of the term, archaeologists have often been uncomfortable with it. It was introduced in inverted commas and those commas continued to be used for over 30 years. With the introduction of the term 'hengiform' the strictures of definition that characterised the monument class collapsed and an increased variety of circular and oval monuments were included under the henge aegis. It is suggested here that the term 'henge' has outlived its usefulness as we no longer know what we mean by it. Instead we should adopt an objective viewpoint and recognise these earth circles as just one manifestation of the tradition of circularity that pervades the third and second millennia BC.

<p>English is the most expansionist language in the world today. Currently, native speakers are outnumbered by non-native speakers by a ratio of 3:1, a ratio that is set to grow to 10:1 within the next ten years. One of the consequences of a language growing so rapidly is that its new users tend to ignore already accepted standards. In what linguists refer to as the outer and expanding circles of English-speakers (mainly in Africa and Asia) new varieties and standards of English are now being invented.</p><p>In this study, the effects of the current expansion of English on the teaching of English in Swedish upper-secondary schools are explored. Questions raised include: Should teachers of English in Sweden reflect the changing nature of English in their teaching? Should they readily adopt the New Englishes that are emerging or should they teach with the standard they have always used? The national curriculum for the teaching of English in Sweden is discussed in some detail. The guidelines therein are evaluated in terms of their ability to capture the changing face of English as well as their ability to give solid guidance to teachers in a classroom situation.</p><p>Findings derive from linguistic literature and from interviews conducted with English teachers at upper-secondary level. One of the main conclusions of the study is that whilst the national curriculum recognises the global diversity of English, its goals are overambitious in what it tries to achieve and thus it fails to provide teachers with practical guidance in their day-to-day teaching. A recommendation, therefore, is that the curriculum should be clearer in spelling out the importance of adhering to native standard varieties of English. However this does not mean that teachers should ignore the cultural diversity of the English-speaking world.</p>

When defining a structure to fulfill a set of axioms that are similar to those prescribed by Euclid, one must select a set of points and then define what is meant by a line and what is meant by a circle. When properly defined these labels will have properties which are similar to their counterparts in the (complex) plane, the lines and circles which Euclid undoubtedly had in mind. In this manner, the geometer may employ his intuition from the complex plane to prove theorems about other systems. Most "finite geometries" have clearly defined notions of points and lines but fail to define circles. The two notable exceptions are the circles in a finite affine plane and the circles in a Mobius plane. Using the geometry of Euclid as motivation, we strive to develop structures with both lines and circles. The only successful example other than the complex plane is the affine plane over a finite field, where all of Euclid's geometry holds except for any assertions involving order or continuity. To complement the prolific work concerning finite geometries and their lines, we provide a general definition of a circle, or more correctly, of a collection of circles and present some preliminary results concerning the construction of such structures. Our definition includes the circles of an affine plane over a finite field and the circles in a Mobius plane as special cases. We develop a necessary and sufficient condition for circularity, present computational techniques for determining circularity and give varying constructions. We devote a chapter to the use of circular designs in coding theory. It is proven that these structures are not useful in the theory of error-correcting codes, since more efficient codes are known, for example the Reed-Muller codes. However, the theory developed in the earlier chapters does have applications to Cryptology. We present five encryption methods utilizing circular structures.

Master's thesis "Symbolism of a circle and a spiral - art interpretation" consists of a theoretical and a practical part. The theoretical part is focused on a general description of the history, occurrence and interpretation of circle and spiral in different cultures and chart the use of these symbols in their visual arts. The practical part of the thesis is my own realization of the described symbols. The main inspiration source came from the Czech painter Václav Boštík and from illustrator and graphic artist Petr Sís. The resulting product consists of a collection of sketches and five final designs processed by using several drawing and graphic techniques.

This thesis is a study of circle packings for arbitrary combinatorial tori in the geometric setting of affine tori. Certain new tools needed for this study, such as face labels instead of the usual vertex labels, are described. It is shown that to each combinatorial torus there corresponds a two real parameter family of affine packing labels. A construction of circle packings for combinatorial fundamental domains from affine packing labels is given. It is demonstrated that such circle packings have two affine side-pairing maps, and also that these side-pairing maps depend continuously on the two real parameters.

No description available.

The thesis consists of two main results. The first main result is a proof that C^1 rigidity holds for circle maps with a break point for almost all rotation numbers. The second main result is a proof that C^1 robust rigidity holds for circle maps in the fractional linear transformation (FLT) pair family. That is, for this family, C^1 rigidity holds for all irrational rotation numbers. The approach taken here of proving a more general theorem that C^1 rigidity holds for circle maps with a break point satisfying a `derivatives close condition', allows us to obtain both of our main results as corollaries of this more general theorem.