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The purpose of this thesis is to document the changes in archaeological origin narratives concerning the lowland Preclassic Maya. This was accomplished by tracking the changes in four major narratives over several decades. These narratives include Herbert J. Spinden's Ancient Civilizations of Mexico and Central America; The Ancient Maya written by Sylvanus G. Morley, with additional editors, George Brainerd, Robert J. Sharer, and Loa Traxler; Michael D. Coe's The Maya, and Richard E.W. Adams's Prehistoric Mesoamerica. The specific parts of the narratives analyzed were the origins of agriculture, ceramic technology, writing, and monumental architecture. Changes in metaphorical language and illustrations that accompanied these texts were also analyzed. Shifts in narratives were tracked through the changes made to the texts in sequential editions, and were then compared between editions, and between books. The analysis of these narratives showed that the changes in the narratives resulted from a number of factors, including new technology, such as radiocarbon dating; new discoveries, in the form of artwork, sites, and artifacts; the decipherment of the Maya glyphs; and changes in the field of archaeology. The largest change that archaeological research has shown that Maya civilization is older than first imagined. Writing, ceramic technology, and monumental architecture are all now known be to centuries older than previously thought, all of which require a much different narrative than first told in 1841 by John Lloyd Stephens.

No / 'Small beer', 'wort drinks' and 'pottage' may have been regularly consumed by children during the Medieval Period. This culturally mediated behaviour could have affected the oxygen isotope composition of their water intake beyond that which is accommodated in the current conversion equations used in archaeological studies to assess environmental origins. Experimental data shows that brewing may increase the δ18O value of ale by 1.3‰ over that of the initial water ('liquor') used, boiling water to make hot drinks raises the δ18O value of the fluid consumed by ~0.4‰ and slow-cooking using a large stew pot results in an increase in the oxygen isotope composition of the 'pottage' by an average of 10.2‰ after 3 hours of cooking. Thus, if ingested fluids included 20% from ale, 10% from 'teas' and 20% from stews (the latter increased from -7.0‰ to +3.2‰ by three hours of cooking) then the overall effect on the calculated drinking water value from the tooth enamel will be +2.3‰ . / NERC

<p> This thesis is an initial attempt to shed light on mutual interaction between Coptic and Jewish traditions by demonstrating a Jewish impact on the early stage of the Alexandrian Church as seen in the Coptic Morning Service. It explores the possible influence of the Jewish liturgies and prayers including the writings of the late Second Temple era (200 BCE - 70 CE) on some of the origins of fundamental Coptic rituals. The Coptic Morning Service holds almost identical texts, order of prayers, and, many major Jewish thematic interrelations.</p> <p> This study argues for an important lacuna in the spirituality of the contemporary Coptic worshiper. The mystifications that surround many Coptic liturgical components prevent parishioners from praying with understanding (1 Cor. 14:15). The twenty-first century Copt needs a sort of "Halakah" guidance towards their worshipping practices.</p> <p> This thesis hopes to offer a potential reconstruction of the early history of the Alexandrian Church through liturgy that could open a new scholarly field of Judeo-Coptic studies.</p> / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

The prevalence of overweight and obesity have risen to epidemic proportions. Overweight and obesity are prominent risk factors for the development of chronic disease including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Especially pronounced in women of reproductive age and children, the obesity epidemic represents a major threat to global health. Maternal obesity is a key predictor of childhood obesity and diseases of metabolic origin in adulthood. Previous work has demonstrated that the exposure to early life adversity, in the context of maternal obesity, is associated with an increased risk of metabolic disease and obesity in the offspring later in life. Although the mechanisms outlining the relationship between maternal and offspring obesity remain unclear, the intestinal microbiota has come forth as a promising area of research. To understand the factors involved in the maternal intestinal microbial shifts with healthy pregnancy, the preliminary study focused on investigating whether female sex-steroid hormones mediate maternal intestinal microbial shifts in non-pregnant, regularly cycling female mice. We have identified that intestinal microbial shifts are not associated with sex-steroid hormone fluctuations. The second study examined whether maternal intestinal microbial shifts that occur during obese pregnancy were associated with altered inflammatory signaling and function of the maternal intestine and placenta at a critical period of development; embryonic (E) day 14.5. Females fed a high fat diet (HFD) were significantly heavier at mating and throughout gestation compared to CON. At E14.5, High fat (HF) dams displayed increased adiposity, hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, hyperleptinemia and were insulin resistant. Pregnancy and maternal obesity resulted in shifts in the maternal intestinal microbiota, where the most significant increase in microbial relative abundance was exhibited by the mucin degrading genus, Akkermansia. At E14.5, maternal intestinal microbial shifts were associated with higher maternal intestinal NFκB activity in all sections of the maternal intestine, most notably in the maternal colon. Maternal obesity was associated with increased Muc5ac mRNA levels and a modest increase in CD3+ T cells in the maternal colon at E14.5. However, maternal intestinal permeability was unchanged between groups. In the placenta, mRNA levels of key signaling components in the pro-inflammatory toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) pathway; TRAF6, NFκB and potent pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α were increased and in HF females. Maternal obesity was associated with an increase in CD3+ T cells in the junctional zone (JZ), but not in the labyrinth zone (LZ) of the placenta at E14.5. These findings were associated with increased mRNA levels of critical nutrient transporters; glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) and sodium-coupled neutral amino acid transporter 2 (SNAT2) and a modest increase in glucose transporter 3 (GLUT3) in HF placentae compared to CON. These data identify the mechanistic signaling pathways and cell types involved in modulating the intrauterine environment, thus contributing to the current literature devoted to the investigation of the developmental origins of obesity. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

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